Tjs. A ^ v 









HARPERS PARALLEL SOURCE PROBLEMS 

SOURCE PROBLEMS 

~MGLISH HISTORY 

Lib BY 

ALBERT BEEBE WHITE 

PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN THE 
UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA 

AND 

WALLACE NOTESTEIN 

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN 
THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA 

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY 

Professor DANA CARLETON MUNRO 




HARPER fef BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 

NEW YORK AND LONDON 






S 



COPYRIGHT, 1913. BY HARPER a BROTHERS 

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 

PUBLISHED OCTOBER. 1915 



QGT -9 1915 

©CI.A410950 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Preface ix 

Introduction xv 

I. ALFRED AND THE DANES 

I. The Historical Setting of the Problem .... 3 

II. Introductions to the Sources 7 

III. Questions and Suggestions for Study 10 

IV. The Sources 12 

1. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 12 

2. Asser's Life of King Alfred 16 

3. The Chronicle of Ethelwerd 25 

4. Alfred and Guthrum's Peace 31 

II. ORIGIN OF THE JURY 

I. The Historical Setting of the Problem .... 35 

II. Introductions to the Sources 39 

III. Questions and Suggestions for Study 45 

IV. The Sources 48 

1. The Monastery of St. Vincent versus Certain 

Serfs of the Monastery. 854 48 

2. Abbot of St. Augustine's Claim to a Ship . . 51 

3. Title of the Domesday Inquest for Ely. 1086 . 52 

4. Claim of Abbot of St. Augustine to Customs at 

Newington. 1094 53 



Contents 



PAGE 



5. Monks of St. Stephen versus the King's Tenants. 

1122 53 

6. Writ of the Earl of Essex in favor of the Canons 

of St. Martin . . 55 

7. Constitutions of Clarendon. 1164 .... 55 

8. Assize of Clarendon. 1166 56 

9. Assize of Northampton. 11 76 . . . . . . 56 

10. Tractatus de Legibus et Consuetudinibus Regni 

Anglice 58 

11. Typical Civil Pleas before the Justices of the 

Bench and before the Justices in Eyre. 
1200-1202 60 

12. Typical Pleas of the Crown before the Justices 

Itinerant. 1201-1203 64 

13. Typical Pleas of the Crown before the Justices 

Itinerant in Gloucestershire. 1221 . . . 66 

III. SOME ANTECEDENTS OF THE HOUSE OF COM- 
MONS 

I. The Historical Setting of the Problem .... 73 

II. Introductions to the Sources 75 

III. Questions and Suggestions for Study 85 

IV. The Sources 88 

1. Inquest of Sheriffs. 11 70 88 

2. Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi Benedicti Abbatis . 89 

3. Assize of Arms. 1181 90 

4. Ordinance of the Saladin Tithe. 1188 ... 91 

5. Form of Proceeding on the Judicial Visitation. 

1194 92 

6. Summons of Juries to St. Albans. July 21, 1213 93 

7. Summons to a Great Council. November 7, 

1213 93 

8. Magna Carta. June 15, 1215 93 

9. Writ for Assembling the County Court before 

the Itinerant Justices. 12 18 94 

10. Writ for the Collection of a Carucage. 1220 . 95 



Contents 



PACE 



ii. Distraint of Knighthood. 1224 96 

12. Writ Summoning Four Knights of the Shire. 

1227 97 

13. Writ Summoning Representatives of Seven 

Boroughs. 1235 98 

14. Writ Summoning Two Knights of the Shire. 

1254 • ; 98 

15. Writ Summoning Three Knights of the Shire. 

1261 100 

16. Writ Summoning Four Knights of the Shire. 

1264 101 

17. Writs Relating to the Assembly of January, 

1265 102 

AN ASPECT OF THE FOURTEENTH-CENTURY 
LABOR PROBLEM 

I. The Historical Setting of the Problem .... 109 

II. Introductions to the Sources 113 

III. Questions and Suggestions for Study 118 

IV. The Sources 121 

1. Cartularium Monasterii de Ramseia: CCIX. 

1252 121 

2. Extent of the Manor of Borley. 1308 . . . 127 

3. Typical Lists of Manorial Services . . . . 132 

4. Chronicon Henrici Knighton. 1349 135 

5. Royal Writ in Behalf of John de Paddebury. 

1350 140 

6. Ordinance of Laborers. 1349 141 

7. Statute of Laborers. 1351 146 

8. Writ Appointing Justices of Laborers. 1356 . 152 

9. Proceedings before the Justices of Laborers, 

1355; 1358 154 

FREEDOM OF SPEECH UNDER ELIZABETH AND 
THE STUARTS 

I. The Historical Setting of the Problem . . . . 161 

II. Introductions to the Sources .176 



Contents 

PAGE 

Part A. Elizabeth 176 

Part B. The Stuarts . . . . 178 

III. Questions and Suggestions for Study 181 

Part A. Elizabeth 181 

Part B. The Stuarts . 183 

IV. The Sources 186 

Part A. Elizabeth . . . , 186 

1. Commons Journals, Nos. I, 6 1 186 

2. Calendars of State Papers, Spanish, No. 2 . . 187 

3. State Papers, Domestic, No. 3 190 

4. D'Ewes, Journals, Nos. 4, 5, 7 192 

8. Townshend's Historical Collections, Nos. 8, 9 . 200 
Part B. The Stuarts . . 202 

1. Parliamentary History, No. 1 203 

2. Parliamentary Debates in 1610, Nos. 2, 4 . . 205 

3. Commons Journals, Nos. 3, 12 207 

5. Calendar of State Papers, Domestic, Nos. 5, 8 208 

6. Nicholas, Proceedings and Debates, No. 6 . . 210 

7. Calendar of State Papers, Venetian, No. 7 . . 224 

9. Notes of the Parliament of 1626, No. 9 . . . 225 

10. An Account of the Debate on June 5, 1628, 

No. 10, from 

a. Grosvenor's Journal 230 

b. Borlase Manuscript 230 

c. Rushworth's Historical Collections .... 230 

11. Cobbett's State Trials, No. 11 235 

13. Lords Journals, No. 13 237 

Reference to Bill of Rights in Appendix, No. 14 . . 238 

VI. THE ENGLISH PARISH AND THE NEW ENG- 
LAND TOWN-MEETING 

I. The Historical Setting of the Problem .... 241 

II. Introductions to the Sources 244 

1 These numbers are those of the extracts, which, on account of the repeated 
use of the same source in this problem and Problem VIII, have been arranged in 
a separate enumeration. 



Contents 

PAGE 

III. Questions and Suggestions for Study .... 246 

IV. The Sources 248 

1. Lambard, Duties of Constables 248 

2. Sheppard, Offices and Duties of Constables . . 252 

3. Meriton, A Guide for Constables 255 

4. The Annals of St. Helen's Bishopsgate, London . 257 

5. Nichols, Illustrations 

A. Churchwardens' Accounts of St. Margaret's 

Westminster 261 

B. Churchwardens' Accounts of Wigtoft . . 264 

6. Boston Town Records 264 

7. Records of Boston Selectmen 277 

8. Winthrop's Journal 278 

9. The Records of the Town of Cambridge . . . 279 



VII. BEGINNING OF PEACE NEGOTIATIONS WITH 
AMERICA 

I. The Historical Setting of the Problem . 

II. Introductions to the Sources .... 

III. Questions and Suggestions for Study 

IV. The Sources 

1. The Writings of Benjamin Franklin . 

2. Life of Shelburne with Extracts from his Papers 

and Correspondence 

3. Letters from the Landsdowne MSS. . 

4. Memorials and Correspondence of Fox 

5. Autobiography of the Duke of Grafton 



283 
288 
289 
293 
293 

314 
315 
317 

317 



VIII. THE PARLIAMENT ACT OF 191 1 

I. The Historical Setting of the Problem . . . . 331 

II. Introductions to the Sources 340 

III. Questions and Suggestions for Study .... 340 

IV. The Sources 343 

1. Seligman, The English Budget Proposals, No. 1 . 343 

2. The Annual Register, Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 12, 13, 16, 

17, 18, 19, 20. 22, 23 346 



Contents 



PAGE 



3. Hansard, No. 6 349 

4. The London Times, Nos. 7, 8, 10, n, 14, 15, 21 . 350 

5. Law Reports, The Public General Statutes, 191 I, 

No. 24 . . . . ■ 363 

Appendix 367 

Index 415 



PREFACE 

THIS volume conforms to the basic notion of the 
series to which it belongs, the grouping of sources 
about a given problem or theme for intensive study- 
instead of stringing together "fragments" in chrono- 
logical order. It is better teaching to have a few 
source orgies at set times during the course than to 
be habitually taking the sources in attenuated doses. 
Yet in one respect this work is a variant: in most 
cases its sources are vertical rather than parallel. 
None of these studies deals with a single episode. 
Most of them cover rather long periods and are con- 
cerned with the broader problems of the origin and 
development of certain political practices, with criti- 
cal periods in national struggles, or with economic 
and social changes. The editors have often attempted 
to set such problems while using source books of the 
older type. The present grouping and the introduc- 
tory material should greatly aid this kind of work. 

The difficulties in preparing such a book are ob- 
vious. It may well be wished that the first prob- 
lem should be the simplest one, and that each 
succeeding problem should be somewhat more diffi- 
cult and complex; but the problems must be taken 



Preface 

up chronologically, and easy ones which have the 
other needed qualities do not always come early, nor 
the hard ones late. The origin of the jury is a hard 
matter, while the Veto Bill of 191 1 involves no 
elaborate analysis of the sources. There is a further 
difficulty of reconciling the demand for a neat prob- 
lem that would lend itself to practice in handling 
original materials and that would give the satis- 
faction of a clean-cut solution with the demand for 
a group of sources that will illustrate and reveal the 
important things of history. And the greatest diffi- 
culty has been that space requirements have made 
necessary the omission of some aspects of the prob- 
lems which are both interesting and illuminating. 
Yet it is hoped that, while intensive work and 
method have been kept in view, enough material has 
been furnished, and with a sufficient distribution, 
to be useful for illustrative purposes and to stimu- 
late interest. The questions and suggestions which 
accompany the problems are offered with many 
misgivings. The vital question which provokes 
thought is the question struck out in the give-and- 
take of class-room discussion. Any questions print- 
ed with source material must be comparatively tame 
and formal. They may help the student to answer 
that perennial initial query, what he is to do with 
the unfamiliar stuff before him, and they may serve 
as starting-points for the work in class. The ques- 
tions have not all been fashioned to fit the average 



Preface 

undergraduate intelligence. Some of them, which 
the instructor will have no trouble in recognizing, 
are, like the originals in geometry, for the exercise 
and enjoyment of the ablest members of the class. 
Students should be diligently reminded that they 
must study the introductory statements as well as 
the source material itself before they attempt to 
answer the questions. 1 

The book is intended for use in the more general 
and elementary college courses in English history. 
If it leans to the governmental it is because the 
editors feel that any good course in English history 
must emphasize that aspect. But it is not intended 
— as the reader can see at a glance — for any ad- 
vanced work in English constitutional history. A 
book of source problems will of course always be 
used in connection with a narrative text; hence the 
sections entitled "The Historical Setting of the 
Problem" take many routine facts for granted. The 
editors have used these sections to present such 
material or to urge such points of view as they 
believe should be very prominently in mind when 
the student attacks the sources. Occasionally im- 
portant facts have been omitted from the statements 
introductory to the sources, when it has been deemed 
a legitimate part of the problem for the student to 
find out these facts for himself. 

1 Mr. White is responsible for Problems I-IV, and Mr. 
Notestein for Problems V-VIII. 



Preface 

There are a few great documents so indispensable 
to the study of English history, documents which 
have become such a standard tradition in teaching 
the subject, that every source book, whatever its 
plan, should print them in full. It is hoped that 
the seven documents printed in the Appendix in- 
clude most of those which belong beyond question 
in such a select list. Where the whole or part of 
any of these documents is related to one of the 
problems, the appropriate reference has been made; 
but their independent position in the Appendix will 
make it convenient for the teacher to use them in 
any way he may choose. 

We desire to express our thanks to all who have 
assisted in the preparation of the material, with es- 
pecial reference to Professor Munro, the general 
editor of this series. Professor Bertha H. Putnam 
has given her expert knowledge very freely and 
cordially in connection with phases of Problem IV; 
Dr. W. S. McKechnie and his publishers, Messrs. 
Maclehose, have distinctly increased the worth of 
the book by their ready permission to use his trans- 
lation of Magna Carta, and we are indebted to 
Professor Cheyney for the use of his translation 
of the Extent of the Manor of Borley. Professor 
Seligman has kindly allowed us the use of his ex- 
cellent summary of the Budget of 1909. Upon the 
Problem of the Parliament Act, Professor C. D. Allin 
has given wise suggestion. For help upon some of 



Preface 

the American aspects of Problems VI and VII the 
writers are very thankful to Professor Carl Becker 
and to two former colleagues, Professors W. M. West 
and F. M. Anderson. 

A. B. W. 
W. N. 
Minneapolis, 
July 7, 1915. 



INTRODUCTION 

T^WENTY years ago the value of the use of 
* sources in teaching history was generally rec- 
ognized. But usually only detached fragments were 
employed, and these served only to interest the 
student and to vivify the narrative. There were 
a few exceptions, such as some of the numbers in 
the series of Translations and Reprints from the 
Original Sources of European History, published by 
the University of Pennsylvania. Even these, how- 
ever, did not furnish any setting for the problem, or 
suggest the important questions which were to be 
solved. Consequently the average teacher was not 
able to employ such material to the best advantage. 
When the first volume in this series, by Duncalf 
and Krey, was published, a very important advance 
was made. For then there was a sufficient amount 
of apparatus to enable teachers to use the material 
in a satisfactory manner. One keen reviewer wrote, 
"The thorough carrying out of the method even in 
this small field will afford critical training such as 
few students of history, we fear, now get in either 



Introduction 

school or college." The same may be said of the 
present volume. 

Among its strong points, three especially may be 
enumerated. The stress is laid upon the develop- 
ment of the English government, which is the most 
important feature to be emphasized in the study 
of English history. The connection between Eng- 
lish institutions and those of New England is brought 
out in one of the problems. This suggests the self- 
evident truth that the early settlers in New England 
got their experience in governmental affairs not 
from their knowledge of or participation in the 
central government of England, but because they 
were necessarily concerned with the affairs of their 
own parish. This truth, although self-evident, has 
too frequently been lost sight of in our teaching of 
English history. Lastly, the connection between the 
present and the past is well brought out, notably in 
the last problem, so that the student will be led to 
feel that the history which he has been studying is 
essential for an understanding of present-day con- 
ditions. 

It was a fortunate chance that two scholars, one 
of whom had specialized in medieval English his- 
tory and the other in the modern history of Great 
Britain, should have been found to undertake this 
task. Probably no one author could have been as 
well equipped for this work. Two results are es- 
pecially noteworthy. First, that the translations 



Introduction 

of the medieval documents are scholarly and accu- 
rate; no one, except a specialist, realizes how diffi- 
cult it is to make an adequate translation. Second- 
ly, some of the material included is distinctly novel 
in character, and bears witness to the broad knowl- 
edge of the editors. It was a happy idea to publish, 
in the Appendix, some of the more important docu- 
ments for the development of the English govern- 
ment. This will, in many cases, obviate the neces- 
sity of the purchase of an additional volume. I am 
confident that this book is the most valuable aid 
which has been prepared for the teaching of English 
history in secondary schools or in elementary col- 
lege classes. 

Dana C. Munro. 

University of Wisconsin. 



PROBLEM I 
I. — Alfred and the Danes 



SOURCE PROBLEMS 
IN ENGLISH HISTORY 

Alfred and the Danes 

I. THE HISTORICAL SETTING OF THE PROBLEM 

TT is important to understand at the outset that this 
~A~tirst source study centers in the most critical period 
of a movement which affected not England only, but the 
whole of Europe. The invasions and settlements from 
the Scandinavian north spread "from Iceland to Con- 
stantinople, from Russia to Spain." These tremendous 
outpourings, which were progressing during the ninth 
century in a veritable geometrical ratio, were the last 
in that vast series of "wanderings of the peoples" which 
had brought the Roman Empire to an end and created 
a new Europe. In the earlier movements the northern 
peninsulas had had no share. Britain had been invaded 
and settled in the fifth and sixth centuries by the Anglo- 
Saxons at the same time that the continental portions of 
the Empire were overrun by less distant Teutonic tribes; 
but the extreme north remained then and for long after- 

3 



Source Problems in English History 

ward strangely inactive. Now in the ninth century the 
flood which had long held back broke with the greater 
fury. Enough time had passed for the earlier invaders 
to assimilate many good things which they found in the 
southern civilization and to make their contribution of 
virile and clean blood. They were already Christian in 
more than name. Such loss of classic civilization as was 
inevitable had been suffered. But all had not been lost; 
and now the blackest centuries of the dark ages, the sixth 
and seventh, lay behind. Europe was getting well started 
upon the slow but hopeful journey toward the light of 
modern times. Was this new inundation to bring on a 
second and more hopeless dark age? 

Beyond the fundamental cause of a rapidly increasing 
population in lands not fitted to sustain it, several causes 
more immediate to the ninth century help to account for 
the viking raids. The first has to do with the northern 
extensions of Charlemagne's empire, especially his gen- 
eration-long struggle with Saxony, ending finally in com- 
plete conquest. This struggle not seldom involved di- 
rectly or indirectly the people of Denmark and even of 
Scandinavia, who were led to fear advancing Christen- 
dom as their greatest foe. When they went forth to con- 
quer they were eager to strike at Christian states wher- 
ever found, and they did not distinguish nicely between 
those inside and outside the Frankish empire. Of course 
the love of plunder and adventure played a commanding 
part once the wealth of the southern lands and the weak- 
ness of their governments were known. At first there 
were desultory raids directed against the places where the 
resistance was least, and with little or no concerted action 
among the petty bands under their viking leaders. As 
the years passed and the invaders multiplied and became 
more familiar with the invaded regions, the lure of the 

4 



Alfred and the Danes 

south extended beyond that of mere portable plunder. 
For these invaders came from among a people of settled 
life, engaged in agriculture and grazing, and the south 
seemed a pleasant place to live in as well as to plunder. 
Real estate had rather more enduring charms than 
chattels. This natural change coincided roughly with 
new conditions at home, especially in Denmark, but soon 
to some extent in Norway also. There was a growing 
unity and central power under the first real kings in these 
countries. Piracy, suppressed at home, spread abroad, and 
many defeated petty chiefs, who scorned to live in sub- 
jection, sought a new career in the south. Moreover, the 
movements were no longer monopolized by people who 
were pirates by nature and choice, but by the more stable, 
land-seeking element. Desultory plundering raids were 
gradually superseded by larger and better concerted 
movements with permanent colonization as a prominent 
object. But they never became a national migration 
under one great leader. The political units established 
in the conquered lands were always small, like the primi- 
tive settlements of the Anglo-Saxons who had passed 
through somewhat analogous stages — settlements that 
were the resultants of the different and often hostile aims 
of many petty chiefs. But confederations and combina- 
tions of formidable size might hold together for a short 
time when there was a particular point to gain or ob- 
stacle to overcome. Such were the "armies," involving 
hundreds of boats and thousands of men, met by Alfred 
and the brother, Ethelred, who ruled just before him. 

The viking raids became serious in England late in 
Egbert's reign, about the year 834. From that time 
there was but slight cessation until the crisis was passed 
in Alfred's reign, and as a result of his great leadership. 
The English invasions were very closely bound up with 

5 



Source Problems in English History 

those on the Continent and in Ireland, the same bands 
seeking either side of the North Sea, the English, or St. 
George's, Channel, according as the resistance on the one 
side or the other was more effective. A respite in one 
country always marked more serious trouble in another. 
About 855 in England the invading forces became much 
more numerous and their attacks better organized. This 
date approximately marks the change, just noted, from 
the earlier to the later phase of the invasions. When 
Alfred, twenty-two years of age, came to the throne in 
871, northern and large sections of central England were 
under Danish control and Wessex was hard beset, fight- 
ing for her life. Alfred's year of succession was his 
"year of battles." Despite his wonderful efforts and 
his many partial or complete successes, the situation did 
not clear. During 875 and 876, both the entire Continent 
and Ireland were freer from Scandinavian invasions than 
they had been for very many years. This constituted a 
sinister prospect for England, and the crisis of the reign 
was near. The little country of Wessex was the ob- 
jective of most of the important viking forces then operat- 
ing in Europe. This fact and the fact that the situation 
was dominated by a real hero give compelling interest to 
the story that has come down to us in these brief and often 
obscure old chronicles. If England had been completely 
conquered, the Northmen would have gained vastly in 
prestige and would have possessed an effective base of 
operations against western Europe. Alfred did his work 
in England, but there needs no stretching of the facts to 
show its European significance. When he came to the 
throne the Northmen seemed to have the conquest of one 
great Christian nation well within their grasp, and others 
were sorely threatened. In the years following, the criti- 
cal conflict was waged with this first great opponent that 

6 



Alfred and the Danes 

the vikings had encountered since their more wide-spread 
and purposeful efforts to colonize and conquer the south. 
Before his reign ended the tide had turned and the chances 
were much more than even that the hopeful beginnings 
of medieval civilization would be preserved. Probably at 
not many times in history has more depended upon a 
single great spirit than in certain dark weeks and months 
of this ninth-century English reign. 



II. INTRODUCTIONS TO THE SOURCES 

i. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. 

"This is the oldest historical work written in any 
Germanic language, and is the basis of most of our knowl- 
edge of Anglo-Saxon history from the year 732 onward." x 
For perhaps two centuries before Alfred, one or more 
brief local annals, written in Latin, appear to have been 
kept in quite strictly contemporaneous fashion. Under 
some unknown influence these became expanded and de- 
veloped about 855, shortly before the death of Alfred's 
father. Again there was a striking development late in 
Alfred's reign (893), and clearly under his influence. The 
record for 893-897 is particularly full and intelligent. It 
seems very probable that Alfred was the first to conceive 
the idea of a national chronicle written in the vernacular ; 
and writers inspired and directed by him appear to have 
used what previously existing material they could obtain 
for writing up and making the new chronicle complete 
down to their time. Bede's great history was the main 
source to 732. From then to the middle of the ninth 
century they used the meager but more contemporaneous 
Latin annals. But even for the period of Alfred's public 
1 Gross, Sources and Literature, p. 177. 
7 



Source Problems in English History 

career the Chronicle is far from satisfactory. Three years 
(892, 899, 900) have no record at all. "Eight have 
merely brief entries of a line or two regarding the move- 
ments of the Danish army, or here; and of these eight 
entries the last three have nothing to do with England, 
being concerned with the doings of the here on the Con- 
tinent. Two other very brief entries deal with the send- 
ing of couriers to Rome, and with certain obits." l After 
Alfred, the Chronicle ceased to be a unit, records being 
kept more or less independently at about five different 
religious houses. Hence it is correct to speak of the 
Anglo-Saxon chronicles. But the national idea remained, 
and Alfred's historical impulse showed extraordinary 
vitality. It had not spent itself at the Conquest, and 
this first and great English history did not end until the 
middle of the twelfth century. 
2. Asser's Life of King Alfred. 

It is now generally believed that this work was written 
by a contemporary of Alfred and probably by the man 
under whose name it has passed. Asser, bishop of St. 
David's and later bishop of Sherborne, appears to have 
spent several years about the middle of the reign at 
Alfred's court. Judging from his own account, he was 
aiding the king in his studies and in his literary under- 
takings. The Latin "Life" which he has left us follows 
a most unusual plan. Its foundation is a series of annals 
covering the years 851-887; and in these annals are in- 
serted at various places sections of personal comment 
and anecdote relative to Alfred. These latter seem to be 
entirely original with Asser, while the annalistic portions 
clearly bear a close relation to the corresponding entries 
in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Plummer remarks that 
the biographical sections were inserted in a way "so in- 

1 Plummer, Alfred, p. 12. 
8 



Alfred and the Danes 

consequent and inartistic, that one is sometimes almost 
inclined to think that the compiler, while keeping his an- 
nals (as he could hardly help doing) in chronological order, 
cut up his biographical matter into strips, put the strips 
in a hat, and then took them out in any order which 
chance might dictate." Yet the same style, language, and 
oddities of thought appear in both parts and force the 
conclusion that there was a single author. The passage 
here used is, it will be seen, from the annals Asser prob- 
ably wrote while Alfred was still alive. Why his work 
stopped so suddenly at 887 is not known. 
3. Ethelwerd's Chronicle. 

Ethelwerd, who claimed that he was the great-great- 
grandson of Alfred's brother Ethelred, wrote late in the 
tenth century and brought his chronicle down to 973. 
He dedicated his work to a kinswoman, Matilda, who, he 
states, was descended in the same number of generations 
from Alfred. It has been shown that this was Matilda 
of Swabia, granddaughter of the Emperor Otto I. and his 
first wife Edith, daughter of Edward the Elder of Eng- 
land. Ethelwerd was probably the ealdorman of that 
name who witnessed a number of charters between 976 
and 998, and who is otherwise heard of in that period. 
His very pompous and obscure Latin history is yet worthy 
of study because it is clear that he used an earlier version 
of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle than any extant. This ver- 
sion lacked some things found in the later manuscripts, 
but clearly contained points of importance which they 
lack. These would have been lost but for Ethelwerd's 
work. But sometimes he did more than follow his copy 
of the Chronicle; and in view of his time, his position, and 
his connections with the House of Wessex, it seems likely 
that he had access to such written and traditional ma- 
terial as to make his additions worthy of notice. It 

9 



Source Problems in English History 

was most remarkable for any but a churchman to under- 
take to write a chronicle. Undoubtedly his lack of a cleri- 
cal training accounts largely for his very bad Latin. 
4. Alfred and Guthrum's Peace. 

There is no reasonable doubt that this is the authentic 
text of an undated treaty drawn up between Alfred and 
the Danes. It was written in Anglo-Saxon. Sufficiently 
interesting and instructive in itself, the treaty has an 
added importance because of the great dearth of official 
documents of all sorts from Alfred's time. After using 
chronicles and being constantly on the alert for errors 
growing out of bias, carelessness, or ignorance, it is pleas- 
ant to use even a small bit of evidence with which no care 
of that sort has to be taken. 

III. QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY 

i. Make a list of the important differences in style and sub- 
ject-matter between the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and 
Asser. 

2. Prove, if possible, by a careful comparison whether Asser 

copied from the Chronicle or whether the Chronicle 
was copied from Asser. 

3. Is any hint to be found of Asser's nationality? 

4. What are. the obvious faults of Ethelwerd's method of 

writing history? 

5. What bits of information are to be gathered from Ethel- 

werd not obtainable from the other sources? 

6. How does the class of source material to which Alfred and 

Guthrum's Peace belongs differ from chronicles? Why 
must chronicle material be used with greater caution? 

7. On an outline map of England indicate the places men- 

tioned here in Alfred's campaigns which have been 
located with a fair degree of certainty; also draw the 
boundary between Alfred's dominions and the Dane- 
law described in Alfred and Guthrum's Peace. 
10 



Alfred and the Danes 

8. What specific point of time in the period here shown would 

you pick out as marking the crisis or turning-point in 
the struggle? 

9. How do you account for the slight entries in the chronicles 

for some of these years? 

10. What seems to have been the typical viking method of 

making an incursion into a country? 

11. By studying it in connection with the other sources, assign a 

date to Alfred and Guthrum's Peace. Find out whether 
or not the date you have chosen is the one which has 
usually been assigned to it. 

12. What are the objects of the last four articles of Alfred and 

Guthrum's Peace, and what kind of relations between 
English and Danes do they seem to expect? Are Eng- 
lish and Danes placed on a strict equality? What 
three well-known early judicial practices are illustrated 
in this document? 

13. What indications are there of relations, political or of other 

kinds, existing between Wessex and the Continent? 

14. Draw up a statement of the continental invasions of the 

Northmen based on the accounts here given. 

The following suggestions for further study involve some 
supplementary reading: 

1. By use of Plummer's Life and Times of Alfred and Steven- 

son's Asser's Life of King Alfred, trace the history of the 
old legend of Alfred in the cowherd's hut and the 
burning of the cakes. Show first what is known of the 
origin of the story; secondly, when and how it became 
incorporated in Asser's text; and thirdly, how modern 
scholarship has dealt with it. 

2. In some detailed history of the period, look up the legend 

of the Raven Flag mentioned in the Chronicle as lost 
by the Danes in 878. 

3. Why was it that the final conquest of England by the 

Danes in the eleventh century did not threaten English 
or continental civilization to the same extent that 
these ninth-century invasions did? 



IV. The Sources 

i. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. (Anglo-Saxon text 
and translation, edition of Benjamin Thorpe 
in the Rolls Series.) 
878. In this year, at Midwinter, after Twelfth- 
night, the army stole itself away to Chippenham, 
and harried the West Saxons' land, and settled there, 
and drove many of the people over sea, and of the 
remainder the greater portion they harried, and the 
people submitted to them, save the king, Alfred, and 
he, with a little band, withdrew to the woods and 
moor-fastnesses. And in the same winter the 
brother of Inwar and Half dene was in Wessex, in 
Devonshire, with twenty-three ships, and he was 
there slain, and with him eight hundred and forty 
men of his force. And there was the standard taken 
which they call the Raven. And the Easter after, 
Alfred, with a little band, wrought a fortress at Athel- 
ney, and from that work warred on the army, with 
that portion of the men of Somerset that was 
nearest. Then in the seventh week after Easter 
he rode to Egbert's stone, on the east of Selwood, 



Alfred and the Danes 

and there came to meet him all the Somersetshire 
men, and the Wiltshire men, and that part of Hamp- 
shire which remained of it on this side of the sea; 
and they were rejoiced on seeing him; and one night 

s after, he went from the camp to JEglea, and one night 
after that to Edington, and there fought against all 
the army, and put it to flight, and rode after it, as 
far as the works, and there sat fourteen nights. 
And then the army gave him hostages with great 

io oaths that they would depart from his kingdom; 
and also promised him that their king would receive 
baptism ; and that they so fulfilled ; and three weeks 
after, King Guthrum came to him, with thirty of the 
men who were most honorable in the army, at Aller, 

is which is opposite to Athelney; and the king received 
him there at baptism; and his chrism-loosing was 
at Wedmore; and he was twelve nights with the 
king; and he largely gifted him and his companions 
with money. 

20 879. In this year the army went to Cirencester 
from Chippenham, and sat there one year. And 
in that year a body of vikings assembled, and sat 
down at Fulham on the Thames. And that same 
year the sun was eclipsed one hour of the day. 

25 880. In this year the army went from Ciren- 
cester to East Anglia, and occupied and divided the 
land. And in the same year the army, which had 
before sat down at Fulham, went over sea to Ghent 
in France, and sat there one year. 

13 



Source Problems in English History 

88 1. In this year the army went up into France, 
and the French fought against them; and there was 
the army horsed after the fight. 

882. In this year the army went up along the 
s Meuse far into France, and there sat one year. 

And that same year King Alfred went out to sea 
with ships, and fought against four ship-crews of 
Danish men, and took two of the ships, and the 
men were slain that were therein ; and the two ship- 
10 crews surrendered to him; and they were sorely 
fatigued and wounded before they surrendered. 

883. In this year the army went up the Scheldt 
to Conde, and there sat one year. And Marinus 
the pope then sent lignum domini [of Christ's cross] 

is to King Alfred. And in the same year Sighelm and 
Athelstan conveyed to Rome the alms which the 
king had vowed [to send] thither, and also to India, 
to St. Thomas, and to St. Bartholomew, when they 
sat down against the army at London; and there, 

20 God be thanked, their prayer was very successful 
after that vow. 

884. In this year the army went up the Somme to 
Amiens, and there sat one year. In this year died 
the benevolent Bishop ^Ethelwold. 1 

as 885. In this year the fore-mentioned army sepa- 
rated into two; one part [went] east, the other part 
to Rochester, and besieged the city, and wrought 
another fastness about themselves; but they, never- 

1 Evidently a copyist's error; ^Ethelwold died in 984. 
14 



Alfred and the Danes 

theless, defended the city until King Alfred came 
without with his force. Then the army went to their 
ships, and abandoned the fastness; and they were 
there deprived of their horses, and forthwith, in the 

s same summer, withdrew over sea. And the same 
year King Alfred sent a naval force from Kent to 
East Anglia. As soon as they came to the mouth of 
the Stour, then met them sixteen ships of vikings, and 
they fought against them, and captured all the ships, 

io and slew the men. When they were returning home- 
ward with the booty, a great naval force of vikings 
met them, and then fought against them on the 
same day, and the Danish gained the victory. In 
the same year, before midwinter, Carloman, king 

is of the Franks, died, and a wild boar killed him; and 
one year before his brother died; he also had the 
western kingdom; and they were both sons of Lewis, 
who also had the western kingdom, and died in the year 
when the sun was eclipsed, who was the son of Charles, 

20 whose daughter Ethelwulf, king of the West Saxons, 
had for his queen. And in the same year a larger naval 
force assembled among the Old Saxons; and there 
was a great fight twice in that year, and the Saxons 
had the victory; and there were Frisians with them. 

as In that same year Charles succeeded to the western 
kingdom, and to all the kingdom on this side of 
the Mediterranean Sea, and beyond this sea, as 
his great-grandfather had it, excepting the Lid- 
wiccas [Brittany]. Charles was the son of Lewis, 

i5 



Source Problems in English History 

Lewis was brother of Charles, who was father of 
Judith, whom King Ethelwulf had; and they were 
sons of Lewis; Lewis was son of the old Charles; 
Charles was the son of Pepin. And in the same 
5 year the good Pope Marinus died, who freed the 
Angle race's school, at the prayer of Alfred, king of 
the West Saxons; and he sent him great gifts, and 
part of the rood on which Christ suffered. And in 
the same year the army in East Anglia brake peace 

io with King Alfred. 

886. In this year the army again went west, 
which had before landed in the east, and then up the 
Seine, and there took winter quarters at the city 
of Paris. In the same year King Alfred restored 

15 London; and all the Angle race turned to him that 
were not in the bondage of the Danish men; and he 
then committed the burgh to the keeping of the 
ealdorman Ethered. 
2. Asset's Life of King Alfred. (Latin text in W. H. 

20 Stevenson's Asser's Life of King Alfred. Trans- 

lation by the Editor. 1 ) 
In the year of our Lord's incarnation the eight 
hundred and seventy-eighth, and the thirtieth from 
King Alfred's birth, the oft-mentioned army left 

25 Exeter and came to Chippenham, a royal vill 
located in the north of Wiltshire on the eastern 

1 Unfortunately, Professor Cook's excellent translation was not 
available for the present purpose. (A. S. Cook, Asser's Life of King 
Alfred. Ginn & Co., 1906.) 

16 



Alfred and the Danes 

bank of the river called Avon in Welsh, and there 
wintered. And through force of arms and want, 
as well as through fear, they drove many of the 
people there to go beyond sea, and brought most of 

s the inhabitants of the district under their rule. 
At the same time the said King Alfred, with a few 
of his nobles and some knights and men of his house- 
hold, was in great distress leading an unquiet life 
in the woods and marshes of Somerset. For he had 

io no means of support except what he took in frequent 
raids by stealth or openly from the pagans, or in- 
deed from Christians who had submitted to pagan 
rule. 

In the same year the brother of Inwar and Half- 
dene with twenty-three boats sailed forth from the 

is country of Dyfed, 1 where he had "wintered and 
where he had slain many Christians, to Devon; and 
there, before the stronghold of Cynwit, 2 he with 
twelve hundred others was miserably cut off in his 
wrong-doing by the king's followers, for many of 

20 the latter had shut themselves up there for safety. 
But when the pagans saw the stronghold unprepared 
and unguarded except for defenses built after our 
manner, they did not venture to storm it because 
from the nature of the ground the place was very 

as secure on every side except on the east, as I myself 
have seen; instead they began to besiege it, thinking 
that those men would quickly be forced to surrender 

1 The extreme south of Wales. 2 Location unknown. 

U 



Source Problems in English History 

because of hunger and thirst, for there was no water 
near. But it did not turn out as they expected. 
For the Christians, before they suffered any such 
straits, prompted by God to believe it much better 

5 to win either death or victory, at dawn made an 
unexpected sortie upon the pagans, and shortly slew 
most of them, together with their king, only a few 
escaping to the boats. 

In the same year after Easter, King Alfred, with 

io a few to help him, made a stronghold in a place called 
Athelney, and thence kept tirelessly making attacks 
upon the pagans with his Somersetshire retainers. 
And again in the seventh week after Easter he rode 
to Egbert's Stone, which is in the eastern part of 

is the forest called Selwood — in Latin "Sylva Magna," 
in Welsh "Coit Maur" — and there met him there all 
the dwellers about the districts of Somerset, Wiltshire, 
and Hampshire, who had not through fear of the 
pagans gone beyond sea; and when they saw the 

20 king, after such great sufferings, almost as one risen 
from the dead, they were filled with unbounded joy, 
as it was right they should be; and they pitched 
camp there for one night. At dawn the next morning 
the king moved his camp thence and came to a 

as place called ^Eglea, 1 and there encamped one night. 
Moving his standards thence the next morning, 

1 Probably in Wiltshire. " It is probably an older name of South- 
leigh Wood, or part of it." Stevenson, Asser's Life of King Alfred, 
p. 272. 

18 



Alfred and the Danes 

he came to a place called Edington, and with a close 
shield-wall fought fiercely against the whole army 
of the pagans; his attack was long and spirited, 
and finally by divine aid he triumphed and over- 

s threw the pagans with a very great slaughter. He 
pursued them, killing them as they fled up to the 
stronghold, where he seized all that he found out- 
side — men, horses, and cattle — slaying the men at 
once; and before the gates of the pagan fortress he 

io boldly encamped with his whole army. And when 
he had stayed there fourteen days and the pagans 
had known the horrors of famine, cold, fear, and at 
last of despair, they sought a peace by which the 
king was to take from them as many named hostages 

is as he wished while he gave none to them — a kind 
of peace that they had never before concluded with 
any one. When the king heard their message he 
was moved to pity, and of his own accord received 
from them such designated hostages as he wished. 

20 In addition to this, after the hostages were taken, 
the pagans took oath that they would most speedily 
leave his kingdom, and also Guthrum, their king, 
promised to accept Christianity and to receive bap- 
tism at the hands of King Alfred. All these things 

25 he and his men fulfilled as they had promised. For 
after three weeks Guthrum, king of the pagans, 
with thirty selected men of his army, came to King 
Alfred at a place called Aller near Athelney. And 
Alfred received him as son by adoption, raising him 

19 



Source Problems in English History 

from the sacred font of baptism; and his chrism- 
loosing 1 on the eighth day was in the royal vill 
called Wedmore. After he was baptized he stayed 
with the king twelve nights, and to him and all 

s the men with him the king generously gave many 
valuable gifts. 2 

In the year of our Lord's incarnation the eight 
hundred and seventy-ninth, and the thirty-first from 
King Alfred's birth, the said army of pagans left 

io Chippenham according to promise and went to Ciren- 
cester (in Welsh "Cairceri"), located in the southern 
part of the district of the Hwicce, 3 and there spent 
a year. 

In the same year a great army of pagans from 

15 foreign parts sailed up the Thames River and joined 
the larger army, but wintered at a place called 
Fulham by the Thames. 

In the same year an eclipse of the sun occurred 
between nones and vespers, but nearer to nones. 4 

20 In the year of our Lord's incarnation the eight 

1 For an account of this ceremony, see Cook, Asser's Life of King 
Alfred, pp. 29-30, note 3. 

2 The parallel passage in the Chronicle probably proves that this 
was Asser's meaning; not only Guthrum, but the thirty men who 

25 came with him, received presents. But a strict construction of 
Asser's Latin undoubtedly justifies the traditional translation ac- 
cording to which the men mentioned were Alfred's, who joined the 
king in bestowing gifts on Guthrum only. 

3 Includes approximately the later counties of Gloucester and 
30 Worcester. 

4 A full discussion of this eclipse may be found in Stevenson, 
Asser, pp. 280-286. 

20 



Alfred and the Danes 

hundred and eightieth, and of King Alfred's life the 
thirty-second, the oft-mentioned army of pagans 
left Cirencester and went to the East Angles; and, 
dividing this district, they began to settle there. 

In the same year the army of pagans which had 
wintered at Fulham left the island of Britain, 
crossed the sea, and came to East Francia. It 
remained for a year at a place called Ghent. 

In the year of our Lord's incarnation the eight 

io hundred and eighty-first, and the thirty-third from 
King Alfred's birth, the said army penetrated 
farther into Francia. Against it the Franks fought, 
and when the battle was over the pagans had gotten 
horses and became a mounted force. 

is In the year of our Lord's incarnation the eight 
hundred and eighty-second, and the thirty-fourth 
from King Alfred's birth, the said army pushed 
its boats up the river Meuse much farther into 
Francia and spent a year there. 

20 And in the same year Alfred, king of the Anglo- 
Saxons, fought a battle at sea against pagan boats; 
and he took two of them, having killed all who were in 
them. And the commanders of two other boats, with 
all their fellows, were so thoroughly beaten and so bad- 

25 ly wounded that they laid down their arms and on 

bended knees and with humble prayers surrendered. 

In the year of our Lord's incarnation the eight 

hundred and eighty- third, and the thirty-fifth from 

King Alfred's birth, the said army pushed its boats 

21 



Source Problems in English History 

up-stream along the river Scheldt to a convent of 

nuns known as Conde, and there remained one year. 

In the year of our Lord's incarnation the eight 

hundred and eighty-fourth, 1 and the thirty-sixth 

5 from King Alfred's birth, the said army divided into 
two troops. One went to East Francia, and the other 
came to Kent in Britain and besieged the city which 
is called Rochester in Saxon, and which is located 
on the east bank of the Medway. Before its gate 

io the pagans quickly built themselves a strong tower; 
but they were not able to take the city, because the 
citizens defended themselves vigorously until King 
Alfred came to its aid with a large army. And then 
the pagans, on the unexpected arrival of the king, left 

is their tower and all the horses which they had 
brought with them from Francia, and also most of 
their captives, and fled in haste to their boats, while 
the Saxons seized the captives and the horses. And 
so the pagans were forced by extreme necessity to 

20 sail again into Francia that same summer. 

In the same year Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, 
transferred his fleet, filled with warriors, from Kent 
to the East Angles for the sake of plunder. And 
when they had come to the mouth of the river Stour, 

as suddenly thirteen boats of the pagans, ready for 
battle, met them; and a naval battle was begun 

1 "Asser accidentally omits the annal 884, which is a very brief 
one in the Chronicle. Consequently, he mechanically puts the 
events of 885 under 884." Plummer, Life and Times of Alfred, p. 50. 

22 



Alfred and the Danes 

which was bitterly contested on both sides, but 
which resulted in the killing of all the pagans and 
the seizure of all their boats and goods. However, 
while the victorious royal fleet was resting, the 
s pagans who lived in the land of the East Angles 
gathered boats together from any place in which 
they could find them and met the king's fleet at the 
mouth of the same river, and in the battle which 
followed gained the victory. 

io In the same year also Carloman, king of the East 
Franks, while on a boar-hunt was so horribly bitten 
by a boar that he died. His brother was Lewis, who 
had died the year before and who was also king of 
the Franks; they were both sons of Lewis, king of 

is the Franks. This was the Lewis who had died in 
the above-mentioned year in which the eclipse took 
place, and who was son of Charles, king of the 
Franks, whose daughter Judith was, with her 
father's consent, taken as queen by Ethelwulf, king 

ao of the West Saxons. 

Moreover, in the same year a great army of pagans 
came from Germany to the land of the Old Sax- 
ons, in Saxon called "Eald Seaxum." Against them 
these same Saxons and the Frisians joined forces and 

as fought bravely twice in that year. By divine mercy 
the Christians won both these battles. 

Also in this year Charles, king of the Germans, 
acquired, with the voluntary consent of all, the 
kingdom of the East Franks and all the kingdoms 

23 



Source Problems in English History 

which are between the Tyrrhenian Sea and that ocean 
gulf which lies between the Old Saxons and the Gauls, 
excepting the kingdom of Amorica. 1 This Charles 
was the son of King Lewis, and Lewis was the brother 

s of that Charles, king of the Franks, who was father 
of Judith, the above-mentioned queen; and these 
two brothers were sons of Lewis, who was the son 
of Charles, the son of Pippin. 

In the same year Pope Marinus of blessed memory 

io went the way of all flesh. He it was who for love 
and at the petition of Alfred, king of the Anglo- 
Saxons, graciously released the colony of the Saxons 
residing in Rome from all tribute and toll. Indeed, 
he took the occasion to send many gifts to the said 

15 king; among which was no small portion of that 
most holy and revered cross on which our Lord 
Jesus Christ hung for the salvation of all men. 

And also in this year the army of pagans which was 
living among the East Angles disgracefully broke the 

20 peace which it had entered into with King Alfred. 2 
****** 

In the year of our Lord's incarnation the eight 
hundred and eighty-sixth, and the thirty-eighth of 

1 Brittany. 
25 2 At this point in the annals, a long section of more strictly bio- 
graphical matter is introduced. In this the following topics are 
treated: Alfred's maladies; his children and their education; his 
varied pursuits; his scholarly associates; Asser's negotiations with 
Alfred; the Welsh princes who submitted to Alfred, and how he 
3° rewarded their submission. 

24 



Alfred and the Danes 

Alfred's life, the oft-mentioned army fleeing from 
this region went again into the land of the West 
Franks; they entered by the river called Seine and 
pushed far up-stream in their boats even to the city 
5 of Paris, and there wintered. And they laid out 
their camp on both sides of the river near to the 
bridge in order to keep the citizens from crossing— 
for this city is located on a small island in the middle 
of the river. And they besieged the city that whole 

io year, but through God's favor and the vigorous de- 
fense of the citizens they could not break the forti- 
fications. 

In the same year Alfred, king of the Anglo-Saxons, 
after the burning of cities and the slaughter of peo- 

15 pies, honorably restored the city of London and 
made it habitable; and he intrusted its defense to 
Ethelred, ealdorman of the Mercians. And all the 
Angles and Saxons who had before been widely 
scattered or who were in captivity 1 with the pagans 

20 voluntarily turned to the king and placed themselves 
under his rule. 

3. The Chronicle of Ethelwerd. (Latin text in Pe- 
trie's Monumenta Historica Britannica. This 
translation, with slight changes, from J. Steven- 

25 son's The Church Historians of England.) 

The barbarians renewed the peace, with a fraudu- 
lent intention, and more hostages than were demand- 

1 Undoubtedly a mistranslation from the Chronicle for "who were 
not in captivity." 

25 



Source Problems in English History 

ed were given, for they promised to withdraw their 
forces from the territories of the illustrious King 
Alfred, and they did so. After ravaging the king- 
dom of Mercia, they drove out all the freemen ; and 

s after a changeable course they erected their huts at 
the town of Gloucester. Therefore, in the course 
of this year, this vile rabble broke their treaty with 
the West Angles, although it had been ratified by 
a firm oath; and they took up their winter quarters 

io at Chippenham. But their cavalry rode over the 
necks of many of the people, so that the inhabitants 
had no place of safety from their tyranny, and all 
turned their minds quickly away from them. Then, 
with impious insolence, they drove many across the 

is sea to the shores of Gaul. King Alfred, in truth, 
was at this time more straitened than became him. 
iEthelnoth also, duke of the province of Somerset, 
delayed with a small band in a certain wood; and 
they built a stronghold of some sort on the isle of 

20 Athelney, which is situated in a marsh, as may be 
seen. But the above-mentioned king, together with 
the whole province of Somerset, never ceased to 
engage in daily contests with the barbarians; and 
no others assisted him, except those servants who 

2s were provisioned at the king's expense. In the same 
year Half dene arrived, the brother of the tyrant 
Inwar, with thirty galleys, on the territories of the 
West Angles, and besieged Odda, duke of the prov- 
ince of Devon, in a certain castle, and lighted up the 

26 



Alfred and the Danes 

flames of war within and without. The king of the 
barbarians perished, and eight hundred men with 
him. The Danes at last obtained the victory. Mean- 
while, after Easter in that year, King Alfred hazarded 
a battle against the army which lay at Chippenham, 
at a place called Edington, but they obtained the 
honor of victory. But after the issue of the engage- 
ment, the barbarians promised peace, begged a 
truce, did not refuse hostages, and bound themselves 

io by an oath; their king also submitted to the rite of 
baptism, and King Alfred, as sponsor, received him 
from the laver in the marshy isle of Alney. Duke 
^Ethelnoth likewise purified the same king after his 
baptism, at a place called Wedmore, and there King 

is Alfred loaded him with magnificent honors. Then, 
after a year from the period when the pagan army 
had set out from the city of Gloucester, it reached 
the town of Cirencester, and remained there during 
the winter season. In the course of this year the 

20 sun was eclipsed. In the year following this solar 
eclipse, the aforesaid army left Cirencester for the 
country of the East Angles ; there they pitched their 
camp and reduced all the inhabitants under their 
yoke. Fourteen years had now been completed 

25 since the barbarians had first wintered in the afore- 
said fields and had been provided with horses. 
Moreover, in the same year, after all the aforesaid 
country had been subjected to them, they set sail 
for Gaul and stationed themselves at a place called 
3 27 



Source Problems in English History- 
Ghent, being the very same troops who had formerly 
pitched their camp at Fulham. After a year they 
attempted to proceed farther; but the armies of the 
Franks assaulted them so vigorously that they gained 

s the victory, while the barbarians were put to flight. 
After the lapse of a year the above-mentioned army 
passed into the higher districts of the river Meuse, 
and established their camp at Ascloha. In the same 
year King Alfred put out to sea and met with four 

io of their ships; two of them he overcame and de- 
stroyed, and the remaining two surrendered. In the 
following year the above-named army set out for 
the districts above the Scheldt, at a place called 
Conde, and there fixed their winter quarters. After 

is the expiration of a single year a violent slaughter 
committed by the aforesaid army broke out on the 
higher districts of the Somme, near the town of 
Amiens, and there they pitched their camp for the 
winter. Then, after a year, they divided themselves 

20 and spread over the country in two parts, the one 
occupying Louvain, and the other Rochester, and 
they besieged both these towns. They also con- 
structed for themselves other smaller camps. The 
original inhabitants were defeated, till Alfred arrived 

25 with his western band. . . . Some of them retreated 
beyond the sea. In the course of that year they 
renewed their treaty by giving hostages to the Angles, 
and twice in the year they divided the spoil obtained 
by fraud in the densely wooded district close to the 

28 



Alfred and the Danes 

southern borders of the river Thames. The filthy- 
crew which then held within its power the East 
Angles furnished their supplies, and then they sud- 
denly sought an outward course toward Bamfleet. 
5 There the united bands divided with ill-omened 
movements : some remained, and some departed be- 
yond the sea. In the same year, therefore, the above- 
named King Alfred sent a fleet into the borders of 
the East Angles; and immediately on their arrival, 

io sixteen ships met them at Stourmouth; these were 
ravaged, and their captains slain with the sword; 
then the rest of the piratical fleet met that of Alfred ; 
they plied their oars, they removed their sails, their 
arms glittered on the constrained waves, and at 

is length the barbarians achieved a victory. In the 
same year died Charles the Magnificent, king of the 
Franks, being cut off by death before the comple- 
tion of one year ; after him followed his own brother, 
who then ruled over the western coasts of Gaul. 

20 Both were sons of Louis, who had formerly exercised 
the sole sovereignty ; the close of his life took place 
during the aforesaid eclipse of the sun, and he was 
the son of the great King Charles, whose daughter 
Ethelwulf, king of the Angles, had married. In the 

2s progress of that year, an assault was made by the 
barbarian fleet, with no small force, filling the shores 
of the Old Saxons ; two battles were fought about the 
same time, and the Saxons were victorious. Fries- 
landers also were present at the engagement. In 

? 9 



Source Problems in English History 

the same year, Charles the younger succeeded to 
the sovereignty of all the western parts of Gaul, 
extending as far as the Tyrrhenian Sea, and, if I 
may say so, to all the dominions of his great grand- 

s father, except the province of Amorica. His father 
was Louis, brother of the middle Charles, whose 
daughter Ethelwulf, king of the Angles, had mar- 
ried. And these two were sons of Louis, and he 
was the son of Charlemagne, and he was the son of 

io Pepin. In the same year the blessed Pope Marinus 
departed, who gave liberty to the school of the 
Angles which now exists at Rome by the foresight 
of King Alfred, and he sent as a present a part of the 
thrice-blessed cross of Christ, in whom the salva- 

15 tion of the world shines forth. In the course of the 
same year, the aforesaid pestilential horde broke 
their agreement, and assailed King Alfred with their 
weapons. Then, after a year, they sought the lower 
parts of Gaul, and settled themselves permanently 

20 near the river Seine for the winter. Meanwhile the 
city of London was fortified by King Alfred — a man 
whom the cruelty of civil discord could never sub- 
due by either ingenuity or assault; all men hailed 
him as their deliverer, especially the Saxons, with 

as the exception, however, of the barbarians, and those 
who were then held as captives under their power. 
Also, after his armament there was strengthened, 
Ethered was appointed leader by the aforesaid king 
as the guardian of the citadel, 

30 



Alfred and the Danes 

4. Alfred and Guthrum's Peace. (Anglo-Saxon text 

in Liebermann: Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen. 

Translation from Stubbs's Select Charters, with 

one change suggested by Liebermann 's German 

s translation.) 

This is the peace that King Alfred and King 
Guthrum, and the witan of all the English nation, 
and all the people that are in East Anglia, have all 
ordained and with oaths confirmed, for themselves 
10 and for their descendants, as well for born as for 
unborn, who reck of God's mercy or of ours. 

1. Concerning our land boundaries: Up on the 
Thames, and then up on the Lea, and along the Lea 
Unto its source, then straight to Bedford, then up on 

is the Ouse unto Watling Street. 

2. Then is this: If a man be slain, we estimate 
all equally dear, English and Danish, at viii half 
marks of pure gold; except the ceorl who resides on 
rented land and their [the Danes'] freedmen; they 

20 also are equally dear, either at cc. shillings. 

3. And if a king's thegn be accused of man- 
slaying, if he dare to clear himself on oath, let him 
do that with xii king's thegns. If any one accuse 
that man who is of less degree than the king's thegn, 

25 let him clear himself with xi of his equals and with 
one king's thegn. And so in every suit which may 
be more than iv mancuses. 1 And if he dare not, let 
him pay for it threefold, as it may be valued. 

1 A money of account of this time representing thirty pence. 
3i 



Source Problems in English History 

4. And that every man know his warrantor in 
acquiring slaves and horses and oxen. 

5. And we all ordained on that day that the oaths 
were sworn, that neither bond nor free might go to 

s the host without leave, no more than any of them 
to us. But if it happen that from necessity any of 
them will have traffic with us or we with them, with 
cattle and with goods, that is to be allowed in this 
wise: that hostages be given in pledge of peace, 

10 and as evidence whereby it may be known that the 
party has a clean back. 



PROBLEM II 
II. — Origin of the Jury 



Origin of the Jury 



I. THE HISTORICAL SETTING OF THE PROBLEM 

IT has been remarked more than once that the narrow 
strip of water which separates England from the Con- 
tinent, while it has been a safeguard against sudden in- 
vasion, has been no barrier to institutions and ideas. 
Even before the Norman Conquest much that was Frank- 
ish and ultimately Roman passed into England. Besides 
Christianity and the host of conceptions, social and politi- 
cal as well as religious, which it bore, there were such well- 
known importations as the ideas of written, central-made 
law, of a king who was more than a war chief, of central- 
ized government in general. But of specific political prac- 
tices or devices the importations had been very few. These 
came with the Norman Conquest, and prominent among 
them — prominent at the time, but absolutely pre-eminent 
if what was to grow out of it be taken into consideration 
— was the sworn inquest. 

Although Normandy was a new state, founded in gn 
by the Scandinavian conquerors of the region, it had by 
1066, as one of the family of north French feudal prin- 
cipalities, become as Frankish as any and a distinct 
leader among them. Even its third duke, Richard the 
Fearless (943-996), has become known as the last of the 
Scandinavian and the first of the French dukes of Nor- 
mandy. Intermarriage was wiping out race antagonism 

35 



Source Problems in English History 

while furnishing a very virile and versatile new strain; 
and that selective assimilation — the Northmen's chief 
glory — by which the better things in their new environ- 
ment were taken into their life and practice, laid the 
foundations of future greatness. Normandy was an ideal 
transmitter into England of things continental. 

It may be stated at the outset that the development 
which was to make the sworn inquest a notable thing in 
the world's history took place in England and not on the 
Continent. One obvious but fundamental reason for this 
needs a brief discussion before the sources are studied. 
The sworn-inquest seed found a favorable soil in England. 
It was sown in a country where there was a fairly large 
class of men which was at the same time responsible, well- 
informed, and honest. The three qualities of responsibility, 
informedness, and honesty were perhaps as frequent in 
isolation on the Continent as in England. Be that as it 
may, it was the combination which was needed. A 
nobility, while certainly responsible and sometimes truth- 
telling, would not have a wide range of information on 
local affairs. A servile peasantry, while as honest as the 
nobles and well-informed on the more local and petty 
affairs, would lack the goods and chattels on the basis of 
which a man could be conveniently held answerable for 
perjury. In men between nobles and serfs, the three 
qualities were more often combined. And England, in 
the centuries following the Norman Conquest, had more 
such men. England had a middle class. 

This is not the place for a discussion of English classes 
or an explanation of their origin, but a few leading facts 
need emphasis. In the twelfth and tliirteenth centuries, 
the critical period in jury development, there was in Eng- 
land a substantial body of men above the villeins and 
below the nobles. These non-noble freemen were both 

36 



Origin of the Jury 

urban and rural. In the boroughs they constituted the 
bulk of the population, and held their real estate by bur- 
gage tenure. Outside the boroughs, they were on the 
manors throughout England (sometimes themselves lords 
of manors), not nearly so numerous as the villeins, but 
always an important element in the population. Their 
tenure of land was by free socage, the ancestor of the 
modern fee simple. This middle class, both rural and ur- 
ban, had important public duties and obligations. The ob- 
ligation of the citizen to the state had been largely theirs. 
This obligation had two manifestations which ran back 
to time immemorial. There was the duty of attending 
the courts, — hundred and shire courts or borough courts. 
For these courts were assemblies of the people in which 
there were presiding officers, but no judges apart from the 
assembly itself; and upon the assembly rested the con- 
duct of the trial and the finding of the judgments. The 
other obligation was to defend the state in the citizen 
army or militia. And when, in the eleventh and twelfth 
centuries, the Danegeld became a true tax, and when at 
the end of the twelfth and in the thirteenth century the 
Danegeld was replaced by the more developed carucage 
and taxes on movables, the class of non-noble freemen 
bore an important share of the burden. It was a class, 
then, that stood face to face with the state and did not, 
like the villeins, bear its burden in some indirect and ser- 
vile way through landlords, nor did it escape some bur- 
dens and become charged with others in a special and 
personal way like the nobles. 

But the most striking fact about English classes in the 
middle ages and the one most frequently remarked upon 
is the split which took place in the nobility. The lower 
nobles, the knights, parted company in most respects 
with the greater barons and approached the class below. 

37 



Source Problems in English History 

The kings were so strong in England after the Conquest 
that warfare among the feudal nobles was seldom possible; 
also the whole body of knights was less and less frequently 
summoned to service abroad. Service in the king's court 
and central assemblies was not enforced upon the lesser 
tenants - in - chief , most of whom were knights. The 
knights, then, were not doing much in a military or po- 
litical way to distinguish them from the class of free- 
holders. They stayed at home, ran their estates profit- 
ably, intermarried to some extent with the freeholders, 
and became familiar with all sorts of county business. 
Judged by continental standards, they were leading an 
unknightly life. When matters hardened in the later 
middle ages, it is found that the knights, the English 
gentry, had not the slightest legal or political right to 
distinguish them from the non-noble freemen. The dis- 
tinction was social. Thus England's middle class virtual- 
ly included all between a very small group of great barons 
(later the peers of the House of Lords) and the villeins. 
It was in this great group that men available for sworn- 
inquest purposes were oftenest found. And the govern- 
ment was not slow to learn that in the knights respon- 
sibility, honesty, and information were oftenest found 
together. 1 

All this assumes that there was a central government 
strong enough to use the middle classes for its own pur- 
poses and intelligent enough to develop this use in an 
orderly and progressive way. The big part played by 
the Conquest itself in giving the central government a 
unique opportunity in England and the strength and in- 

1 Of course if the king needed information which could best be 
gotten from either great nobles or villeins, he was as ready to use 
the sworn inquest with them as with the middle class; but for the 
routine kinds of local business knights or freeholders served best. 

38 



Origin of the Jury 

telligence of the post-Conquest kings need little insist- 
ence. Ninety-one years out of roughly the first century 
and a quarter after 1066, England was ruled by a William 
I., a Henry L, and a Henry II. ; and the centennial year of 
the Conquest brought forth the Assize of Clarendon. 
Though there was a falling off in the quality of kings 
during the next century, enough had been done. A 
standard had been set, traditions had been established, 
ministers had been trained. No more impressive proof 
of Henry II. 's greatness can be desired than to watch 
generation after generation of ministers perpetuating his 
ideals and methods under the politically incompetent or 
abusive Richard I., John, and Henry III., and to see how 
his great ordinances laid the foundation of the courts 
and the common law. So, if the English middle class was 
a good tool, there was a firm, clever hand to use it. 



II. INTRODUCTIONS TO THE SOURCES 

i. The Monastery of St. Vincent versus Certain Serfs of 
the Monastery. 

This record of litigation is taken from the Chronicon 
Vulturnense or Chronicle of Volturno. This work was com- 
piled late in the eleventh century, at the famous Italian 
monastery of St. Vincent in the province of Capua, by 
John, a monk of that house. He began with the eighth 
century and brought the record down to his own time. In 
1 108 he presented his work to Pope Paschal II. The 
Chronicle is for the most part a collection of documents 
relating to the monastery's history, and in so far is of 
value; but its slight narrative portion, which deals mainly 
with the early, mythical period of the house, is valueless. 
The document here selected is from the ninth, century, 

39 



Source Problems in English History 

and is the record of a very significant bit of litigation to 
which the monastery of St. Vincent was a successful party. 
It is not hard to identify the several Frankish rulers men- 
tioned, and it is suggested that this should be done at the 
outset with the aid of a genealogical table. It is inter- 
esting in this connection to notice where the monastery 
of St. Vincent was located. 

2 and 4. The writs relating to the "Abbot of St. Augus- 
tine's Claim to a Ship" and the same abbot's "Claim to 
Customs at Newington" are from Thomas of Elmham's 
Historia Monasterii S. Augustini Cantuariensis (History 
of the Monastery of St. Augustine of Canterbury). This 
compilation was made in 141 4, the author being a monk 
of St. Augustine's. "The portion of the work actually 
completed covers the years 597-806, while the rest of the 
volume is made up of rough materials for the projected 
continuation of the history, such as charters and bulls 
(many of them spurious) relating to the abbey, from about 
1066 to 11 91." * There is no reason to doubt the authen- 
ticity of the writs cited in connection with the present 
problem. 

3. The "Title of the Domesday Inquest for Ely" is a 
typical set of instructions to the commissioners employed 
on the great Domesday Survey. The originality and in- 
itiative of the Conqueror in undertaking this detailed and 
unprecedented census, his driving-power in carrying it 
through in a few months, and the resulting mass of unique 
but difficult material left to the historian are the phases 
of the survey usually commented upon at length. In the 
present connection a different interest is uppermost — 
viz., the method employed in obtaining the data. Not 
what was done, but exactly how it was done must be 
learned here; and an intensive study of the Ely instruc- 

1 Gross, Sources and Literature of English History, p. 184. 
40 



Origin of the Jury 

tions will yield all the necessary information on this 
point. 

5. The record of the litigation of the "Monks of St. 
Stephen versus the King's Tenants" was first printed, 
from the Chartulary (record-book of the property of a 
monastery) of the monastery of St. Stephen's at Caen 
in Normandy, in Palgrave's English Commonwealth, II, 
183. The manor of Bridton, with appurtenances, had 
been granted to the abbey by William the Conqueror. 
Notice the make-up and location of the court which finally 
determined the case ; also by what authority it was held 
and who presided over it. 

6. This "Writ of the Earl of Essex in Favor of the 
Canons of St. Martin" was printed from the original (pre- 
served in the Abbey Church at Westminster) by Madox in 
his History and Antiquities of the Exchequer (quarto edition) 
I, 108. Madox placed it "in or about the reign of King 
Henry I. or Stephen." Bigelow remarks, " If this was the 
second Geoffrey earl of Essex, as appears to be the case, 
the writ was of the reign of Stephen; for that king raised 
him to the position." This was, then, doubtless, the 
notorious Geoffrey de Mandeville whom Round (in his 
Geoffrey de Mandeville: A Study of the Anarchy) calls "the 
most perfect and typical presentment of the feudal and 
anarchic spirit that stamps the reign of Stephen." In the 
present case Earl Geoffrey is seen in a moment of penitence 
superinduced by illness; yet this very writ bears some 
evidence of his lofty pretensions. 

7. The Constitutions of Clarendon, too well-known a 
document to need much introduction, was a product of 
the famous controversy between Henry II. and Arch- 
bishop Thomas. The king believed the points at issue 
should be settled by an appeal to precedent. The time 
of his grandfather, before the anarchic days of Stephen 

41 



Source Problems in English History 

when the church, like every other element, had gained so 
many privileges at the crown's expense, was to him the 
normal and just period; and the men who were questioned 
on the former relations of church and state must be old 
enough to remember well the days of Henry I. That the 
Constitutions of Clarendon were based on information 
gained by an inquest can be clearly seen by an analysis 
of the preamble. The articles, of course, cover the vital 
points in the great controversy; but besides these Henry 
seems to have taken the opportunity to clear up several 
related matters of doubt and difficulty between church 
and state, and in one or two instances there is outright 
innovation instead of the statement of old custom. The 
document relates largely to judicial matters, as was bound 
to be the case in view of its occasion. 

8. The Assize of Clarendon was a set of instructions 
or the commission given to the itinerant justices about 
to go on circuit. But while this was its formal and im- 
mediate character, it turned out to be constructive legis- 
lation on a lofty scale — the supreme example, perhaps, of 
the informal and unconscious legislation of that great 
reign when the corner-stone of the common law was laid. 

... a few written or even spoken words communicated to his 
[Henry II. 's] justices, whom he was constantly sending to peram- 
bulate the country, might do great things, might institute new 
methods of procedure, might bring new classes of men and 
things within the cognizance of the royal court. Some of his 
ordinances — or "Assizes," as they were called — have come 
down to us; others we have lost. No one was at any great 
pains to preserve their text, because they were regarded, not as 
new laws, but as mere temporary instructions which might be 
easily altered. They soon sink into the mass of unenacted 
common law. 1 

1 Maitland, in Traill's Social England, II, 408. 
42 



Origin of the Jury 

It is a most curious fact that only the few specialists in 
this field knew of the Assize of Clarendon or several other 
documents of the time not much below it in importance 
until, about 1870, these documents were first taught to 
undergraduates at Oxford out of Stubbs's Select Charters, 
that revered and noble ancestor of source books. 

9. The Assize of Northampton was a revision of the 
Assize of Clarendon made just ten years later. Again 
itinerant justices were to be sent through the country 
and for much the same business. The second document 
shows that the methods of dealing with criminals which 
Henry had made a part of his court procedure by the 
Assize of Clarendon had succeeded. It is interesting to 
compare the documents and see the changes in detail 
which a decade of experience had suggested. It is an 
inspiration to watch the first steps in this great experi- 
ment which was to revolutionize criminal procedure and 
which, with all its early crudities and barbarous accom- 
paniments, was one of the long steps forward in govern- 
ment and civilization. In the sphere of civil pleas, the 
Assize of Northampton has something new to show us. 

10. Tractatus de Le gibus et Ccmsuetudinibus Regni 
Anglice. [Ascribed to Ranulf de Glanville.] 

"Glanville aided Henry II. in his military operations 
against the Scots and the Welsh, and was chief justiciar 
of England from 1180-1189. The Tractatus de Legibus 
is usually ascribed to him, but there is no good evidence 
to show that he wrote it. It may have been written by 
his nephew, Hubert Walter. The work was compiled 
near the end of Henry II. 's reign, 1187-89. It is the old- 
est of the legal classics of England, and marks a distinct 
advance over the unsystematic law-books of Henry I.'s 
time. 'With the exception of the Decretum, it was the 
earliest systematic treatise that appeared after the dis- 
4 43 



Source Problems in English History 

solution of the Roman Empire.' The author's primary- 
object is to describe the procedure of the king's court, 
but he also throws much light upon other legal institu- 
tions. 'Glanville, who led the way,' says Reeves, 'is still 
entitled to the veneration always due to those who open 
the paths to science.' His work helped to make law and 
practice more uniform throughout England along the lines 
marked out by Henry II. " u 

ii. These "Typical Civil Pleas" are records of civil 
suits taken from the so-called Plea Rolls of the king's 
court. It is believed that it was in the reign of Henry II. 
— the reign pre-eminent for great beginnings in law and 
procedure — that the first written records were kept of 
cases heard in the king's court; but none of these has come 
down to us. However, many Plea Rolls are extant for 
Richard I.'s reign, and very many more for the reign of 
John and the reigns following. "When once the stream 
of Plea Rolls begins to flow, it flows abundantly," says 
Maitland. "If the judicial records of the thirteenth 
century were printed in a hundred volumes, those vol- 
umes would be stout." And at that we have but a frac- 
tion of the rolls originally made. Records were kept of 
the cases tried before the central court of the king and 
also of those tried in the localities before the king's court 
of the itinerant justices. The first three cases here cited 
were tried at the center, brought up, it will be observed, 
from Surrey, Northampton, and Kent; the two follow- 
ing were from the Cornish eyre; and the last three from 
the Lincolnshire eyre. The actions here illustrated (the 
grand assize and the three possessory assizes) are those 
in connection with which, back in the reign of Henry II., 
the jury was first made a regular part of the procedure in 
civil suits. By the first part of John's reign these assizes 

1 Gross, Sources and Literature, pp. 315-316. 
44 



Origin of the Jury 

had become very numerous, and were working powerfully 
to spread jury trial into all the more important civil 
actions. Of the cases here shown, a and / are the grand 
assize; d and h the novel disseisin; c, e, and g the mort 
d' 'ancestor; b the darrein presentment. The essential fea- 
tures of these actions should be studied in this connection 
from some manual of English constitutional history. 

12. The "Typical Pleas of the Crown" are records of 
criminal cases taken from the same kind of Plea Rolls 
just described. Those printed here were all brought 
before itinerant justices early in the reign of John, and 
the circuit, or eyre, is indicated in each case. The number 
of "crown pleas" — that is, important criminal cases 
brought before the king's court — was small in comparison 
with the civil pleas; hence it is much harder to deduce 
what might be regarded as the normal procedure of any 
given time. It is evident that all criminal procedure was 
distinctly ineffectual. Convictions were rare. 

13. These last "Typical Pleas of the Crown" belong 
to the next reign and are all from the Gloucestershire eyre. 
In the interval between these and the previous group a 
very important event in the history of criminal procedure 
had occurred. Under the influence of the great Pope 
Innocent III., the Fourth Latern Council, which met in 
1215, passed a decree forbidding the clergy to participate 
in the ceremonies attendant upon any of the ordeals. As 
all the ordeals except trial by battle were managed by the 
clergy, this meant abolishing all but this one ordeal in those 
countries in which the decree was obeyed. It is not hard 
to account for the ready obedience of England at this time. 

III. QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY 

i. What was the principal method used to obtain the facts 
in the trial recorded in document 1? Give an account 
45 



Source Problems in English History 

of this method, making it as clear and detailed as the 
document allows. By whose authority was it used? 
What was it called? Who rendered the judgment in 
the case? On what was the judgment founded? 

2. What features of this method of getting information are to 

be found in the documents from the reigns of William 
I. to Stephen (incl.)? What different features do you 
note? Are there any which seem stable or nearly so 
throughout? Would you regard the method illustrated 
in these English documents substantially the same as 
that in the Frankish? 

3. As far as these documents show, was the sworn inquest 

generally used in connection with a trial in court? 
(Examine also the early documents in Problem III.) 

4. Enumerate the classes of men that were used on sworn in- 

quests in the English cases down to Henry II. 

5. In which of the instances here shown was the sworn inquest 

used on the most extensive scale? 

6. Find a case in which the inquest seems to have been used 

on some other authority than the king's. Can you 
account for this? 

7. Enumerate carefully the different uses of the inquest in 

Henry II. 's reign. (See also documents from this reign 
in Problem III.) About which of these does there seem 
to be anything distinctly new? Do any of them seem 
at all like modern juries? 

8. In what civil suits were juries used in Henry II. 's reign? 

9. Name the common civil suits in which there was jury 

trial early in John's reign. Of which of these do you 
find traces in Henry II. 's reign? 

10. Find proof in Magna Carta (see Appendix, pp. 000-000) that 

some of these civil actions were very popular. Have 
you any means of knowing whether jury trial popu- 
larized them or whether they popularized jury trial? 

11. Did these juries make their statements as units or were 

their members questioned individually? 

12. What was the relation of the jury's statement to the judg- 

ment in these cases? 

46 



Origin of the Jury 

13. Was the jury's statement ever called in question? 

14. Would it be correct to call these jury statements verdicts? 

15. Does there seem to have been one or more than one method 

of selecting juries? 

16. In which documents of Henry II. 's reign are to be found 

juries which presented suspected criminals for trial? 
What classes of criminals? Was there any change in 
this last respect during the reign? 

17. Which document seems to have established a presenting 

jury as a regular part of the king's court procedure? 

18. What men served on the presenting juries? Was there any 

change in this respect during Henry II. 's reign? 

19. What modern form of jury is essentially the same as this 

presenting jury? 

20. In connection with the earliest instances of the presenting 

jury here shown, is there any hint of the king's reason 
for adopting it? 

21. Did juries present those who had been previously accused 

by the injured parties? Did they present people who 
had never been accused? 

22. What evidence is there to show whether or not all trials for 

the most serious crimes were now begun by a jury 
indictment? 

23. How were the people thus presented tried in Henry II.'s or 

John's reign? What document prescribed this pre- 
vailing method? Do you know whether or not other 
forms of trial were used for such cases in times past? 

24. What evidence is there that Henry II. was dissatisfied with 

the way in which criminals were tried? Is there any 
indication of the method he would have liked to sub- 
stitute? 

25. How were criminals tried in Henry IIL's reign? How do 

you account for the change? 

26. What happened if a man refused to allow his guilt or inno- 

cence to be determined in this way? Can you suggest 
why he was allowed any option in the matter? 

27. What evidence is there of two distinct juries in these later 

cases? 



IV. The Sources 

is The Monastery of St. Vincent versus Certain 
Serfs of the Monastery. 854. (Latin text in 
Muratori, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, Vol. I, 
pt. 2, pp. 398-9. Translation by the editor.) 
5 In the name of Christ the Omnipotent. By order 
of the most pious lord Lewis Augustus, son of the 
Emperor Lothair, and also of our lord Duke Guy, 
we Franfid the Prefect sat in judgment in the vill 
Trita, which was formerly under the Prefect Audoen, 
10 in the cause of the serfs of the vill Off en of the Tritan 
valley in the Balvensian district, whom the Cell 
Trita of the Monastery of St. Vincent sought to 
reclaim as serfs; and these were present with us. 
[Here follow thirteen names.] So coming into the 
15 presence of us the above-named judge, Gunipert 
reeve of the Cell Trita of the Monastery of St. Vin- 
cent, together with the clerk Adelpert his advocate, 
laid claim before us to the men of the vill Offen 
[here are inserted the names of nine men], saying that 
20 although these men had always been serfs of St. 
Vincent, they had now for cause unknown withdrawn 
themselves from that service. But on their part 

48 



Origin of the Jury 

the said men made answer: "It is not true that 
either we or our fathers have been serfs of St. Vin- 
cent as Gunipert the reeve and Adelpert claim, be- 
cause both we and our fathers have always been free 
s men; for the sake of protection we commended our- 
selves to that monastery as free men, not as serfs." 
To these statements Gunipert the reeve with Adel- 
pert his advocate replied: "Indeed we have the 
written authorization which Lewis the prior had from 

io the grandfather of our most pious lord Lewis Augus- 
tus, and also another order by which this Lewis, 
son of the lord Emperor Lothair, has confirmed the 
grant made by his grandfather to this monastery; 
and in order that the monastic side may at least 

is have the benefit of witnesses, an inquisition ought 
to be held on this case as by royal authority. There- 
fore, if it please you, make an inquisition on 
this matter, as the lord Emperor commands 
and authorizes, to determine whether these men 

20 were free men in that monastery or serfs." Then 
we Franfid the Prefect, together with the above- 
named judges, saw this cause of disagreement be- 
tween the parties, for these men of the vill Offen 
declared that they were free men and had become 

as connected with that monastery for protection only 
and not as serfs ; therefore we summoned from neigh- 
boring parts of the Tritan valley and Carapella and 
also from several other vills good and true men who 
were well acquainted with this case and knew the 

49 



Source Problems in English History 

men. And we made them take oath on the holy- 
Gospels of God that they would tell us the absolute 
truth of whatever they knew about these men of 
Offen, their freedom or their serfdom. [Here follow 

5 the names of the eighteen who took oath.] And after 
the oath was taken we each one of us carefully ques- 
tioned them individually. Their statements to us 
were of one tenor: "As far back as our memories 
serve we know how this Ursepert, himself a serf, 

io has been reeve over the other serfs of St. Vincent of 
Offen, likewise also all his connections have as serfs 
suffered the same limitations; moreover the reeves 
who have been in this Cell we have always seen 
treated as serfs until now. And if the aforesaid 

is men or those related to them committed any crime 
they were put in chains and treated as serfs, and 
we have seen nothing of their freedom hitherto." 
Moreover, we questioned Ansfrid, who was formerly 
prefect, also Gifo and Alaisi the echevins, by that 

20 oath or fidelity which they had rendered to the lord 
Emperor that they would state truly before us what- 
ever they knew of the said serfs or their connec- 
tions. These made one reply to us : "By that oath 
or fidelity which we have rendered to the lord Em- 

2s peror, as far as our memory serves, we have seen 
this Ursepert, John, Johannaci, etc. always, both 
them and theirs, serfs of St. Vincent; and all those 
things are true which the aforementioned men have 
sworn." And when we Franfid the Prefect and the 

5° 



Origin of the Jury- 
said judges had, through these documents and in- 
quisitions, found all things thus, we respited the case 
until our lord Duke Guy again commanded that as 
by order and authority of lord Lewis the Emperor, 
5 as also by his own order and command, I Franfid 
the Prefect should conclude this case between these 
monks and these men of the vill Offen on the basis 
of the inquisition which was held before us, and 
that the monks should return the said men and their 
io connections to their service as serfs. And so it was 
done. Hence, for the security of said monastery, 
we Franfid the Prefect and the said judges have 
bidden Fraupert the notary to record the present 
judgment together with all that has been done and 
is considered throughout the litigation. And it was 
done in the thirty-second year of the reign of our 
lord the Emperor Lothair and the fifth of his most 
pious son Lewis Augustus, in the month of February, 
the second Indiction. Witnesses: 
20 I Franfid the Prefect was there 

I Gifo was there 
I Senoald was there 
I Alagisi was there 
I Adelpert was there 
2s I John was there, etc. 

2. Abbot of St. Augustine's Claim to a Ship. (Reign 
of William I. Latin text, Bigelow, Placita, p. 
33. Translation by the editor.) 
William son of the king to William sheriff of Kent, 



Source Problems in English History 

greeting. I command that you order Hamo, son 
of Vitalis, and the good neighbors of Sandwich, 
whom Hamo has named, that they tell the truth 
about the ship of the abbot of St. Augustine; and 

s if that ship traversed the sea on the day when the 
king last crossed the sea, then I command that it 
now remain afloat until the king shall come into 
England, and in the mean time let the said abbot 
be again in possession of it. Witness the bishop of 

io Salisbury and the chancellor, at Woodstock. 
[Writ of execution of above on judgment.] 

William son of the king to William sheriff of 
Kent, greeting. I command that you put the ab- 
bot of St. Augustine again in possession of his ship, 

is as I commanded you by my other writ, and as it 
was declared by good men of the county that the 
abbot was in possession of it on the day when the 
king last crossed the sea; and let him hold it in 
peace. Witness the chancellor, at Windsor. And 

20 this without delay, lest I hear further complaint 
about it. Witness the same. 

3. Title of the Domesday Inquest for Ely. 1086. 
(Latin text, Stubbs, Select Charters, ninth edi- 
tion, p. 101. Translation by the editor.) 

as Here is written below the inquisition of lands how 
the barons of the king make inquiry, namely, on the 
oath of the sheriff of the shire and of all the barons 
and their Frenchmen and of the whole hundred, of 
the priest, of the reeve, of six villeins of each vill. 

52 



Origin of the Jury 

Then how the manor is called; who held it in the 
time of King Edward; who holds it now; how many 
hides; how many ploughs in demense and how many 
of the men; how many villeins; how many cotars; 
s how many serfs; how many freemen; how many 
sokemen; how much forest; how much meadow; 
how much pasture; how many mills; how many 
fish-ponds; how much has been added to it or 
taken from it; how much it used to be worth alto- 
io gether; and how much now; how much each free- 
man or sokeman had there, or has. All this thrice; 
that is to say, in the time of King Edward, and when 
King William gave it, and how it is now ; and whether 
more can be had than is had. 
is 4. Claim of Abbot of St. Augustine to Customs at 
Newington. 1094. (Latin text, Bigelow, Pla- 
cita, p. 66. Translation by the editor.) 
William son of King William to the sheriff of 
Kent, greeting. Cause to be declared by the men 
20 of the hundred of Middleton what customs the abbot 
of St. Augustine ought to have in the vill of Newing- 
ton, and what he formerly had. And make him to 
have such without delay, and particularly concern- 
ing that aid as he formerly had it. Witness the bish- 
25 op of Salisbury, at Westminster. 

5. Monks of St. Stephen versus the King's Tenants. 
1 122. (Latin text, Bigelow, Placita, pp. 120- 
121. Translation by the editor.) 
In the year one thousand one hundred and twenty - 

53 



Source Problems in English History 

two from the incarnation of our Lord. Henry king 
of the English commanded that the complaint of the 
monks of St. Stephen of Caen, which they were mak- 
ing about the land which pertains to Bridton which 

s the king's men of Bridport seized and have long held 
in possession by the help of the king's ministers, be 
considered under examination of judges; so that 
indeed an end of the whole question be reached 
through a statement of the men of the four quarters 

io of the neighborhood of that vill. Which often post- 
poned, the king's command at length insisted should 
be done. A day, therefore, having been set, the 
claim of the monks was heard before seven hundreds 
which convened upon that same land, from neigh- 

15 boring and distant vills, Warine the sheriff of Dorset 
and Somerset being present, upon whom the con- 
duct of this case was specially enjoined; and the 
oath was taken according to the king's decree. For 
sixteen men, three namely of Bridport and three of 

20 Bridton and ten from neighboring places, swore that 
they would make a true statement in the inquisition 
concerning that land. The inquisition having been 
made as to whose it more justly was, these men af- 
firmed on the faith of their oath that the said land of 

as old pertained to Bridton. And whosesoever Bridton 
was, his that land ought to be. All acquiescing in 
their assertion, by God's grace and the merit of St. 
Stephen, their rights were adjudged to the demand- 
ants, and that the land should be restored to Brid- 

54 



Origin of the Jury 

ton, and therefore handed over to the monks. And 

so it was done on that same day The names 

of those who swore are these 

6. Writ of the Earl of Essex in favor of the Canons of 
5 St. Martin. (Reign of Stephen. Latin text, 

Bigelow, Placita, p. 160. Translation by the 
editor.) 
Geoffrey Earl of Essex to Aelard de Werris, greet- 
ing. I command you that, setting aside every ex- 

io cuse and delay, and as you love my body and soul, 
you restore to the canons of St. Martin of London all 
their grain of Godchester, and all their goods which 
my men have taken thence; and let all their men 
and goods have my firm peace henceforth; because 

is on account of my illness and for the salvation of my 
soul, I have promised to satisfy those canons and 
all the churches of God. And let it be declared by 
the neighborhood and by good men of that district 
whether five acres of land, which Walter Long holds 

ao and of which he dispossessed them and which those 
canons claim, be of their tenure; and if it shall be 
so declared, cause them to be put in possession, and 
let them hold the land well and in peace. 

7. Constitutions of Clarendon. 1164. (Latin text, 
35 Stubbs, Select Charters, ninth edition, pp. 163- 

167. Translation by the editor.) 
[See Appendix, pp. 370-375, for the entire docu- 
ment. In connection with the present problem, 
study especially articles 6 and 9.] 

55 



Source Problems in English History 

8. The Assize of Clarendon. 1166. (Latin text, 

Stubbs, Select Charters, ninth edition, pp. 170- 
173. Translation by the editor.) 
[See Appendix, pp. 375-380, for the entire docu- 
s ment. In connection with the present problem, 
study especially articles 1, 2, 5, 8, 14, and 22.] 

9. Articles from the Assize of Northampton. 11 76. 

(Latin text, Stubbs, Select Charters, ninth edi- 
tion, pp. 1 79-181. Translation by the editor.) 

10 1. If any one shall be charged before the justices 
of the lord king with murder or theft or robbery, or 
with the reception of men doing such things, or with 
falsifying x or arson, by the oath of twelve knights 
of the hundred, and if knights are not present, by 

is the oath of twelve free, legal 2 men, and by the oath 
of four men of each vill of the hundred, let him go 
to the judgment of water, and if he fail let him lose 
one foot. And at Northampton it was added for 
rigor of justice that likewise he lose his right hand 

20 with his foot, and that he abjure the kingdom, and 
that he leave the kingdom within forty days. And 

1 Probably the generate crimen falsi referred to by Glanville, Bk. 
xiv, ch. 7, where it is taken up in connection with the other crimes 
mentioned in the present category. Glanville says that this general 

25 crime of falsifying has several specific forms, as falsifying charters, 
measures, money, etc. Ducange limits the falsoneria of the Assize 
of Northampton to counterfeiting money and cites the present pas- 
sage in illustration, while Maitland (History of English Law, I, 152) 
translates it "forgery." 

30 2 The word translated "legal" or "lawful" in this and similar 
connections indicates men whose oaths were presumably good; that 
is, men who had never been found perjurers. 

56 



Origin of the Jury 

if he has been cleared at the water, let him find 
pledges and remain in the kingdom, unless he has 
been charged with murder or other heinous crime 
by the community of the county and of the legal 

5 knights of the locality, with which, if he has been 
charged in the aforesaid way, although he has 
been safe at the water, nevertheless within forty 
days let him leave the kingdom, and let him take 
his chattels with him, saving the right of his 

io lords, and let him abjure the kingdom at the 
mercy of the lord king. 



4. Also if any freeholder dies let his heirs remain 
in such seisin as their father had of his fief on the 
day of his death; and let them have his chattels, 

15 whence they may satisfy the will of the deceased; 
and afterward let them seek their lord and from their 
fief let them pay him relief and do the other things 
which they ought to do for him. And if there be 
an heir under age, let the lord of the fief receive his 

20 homage and have him in wardship as long as he 
should. And let the other lords, if there be several, 
receive his homage, and let him do for them what he 
ought to do. And let the wife of the deceased have 
her dowry and the portion of his chattels which per- 

as tains to her. And if the lord of the fief refuse the 
deceased's heirs the seisin of the said deceased 
which they ask, let the justices of the lord king cause 

57 



Source Problems in English History 

a recognition to be made by twelve legal men as to 
what seisin the deceased had of it on the day of his 
death; and according to the recognition, let them 
make restitution to the heirs. And if any one do 

s contrary to this and be convicted of it, let him re- 
main at the king's mercy. 

5. And the justices of the lord king shall cause 
inquest to be made concerning disseisins committed 
contrary to the Assize since the lord king came into 

10 England next after the conclusion of peace between 
him and the king his son. 



10. Tractatus de Le gibus et Consuetudinihus Regni 
AnglicB. (Reign of Henry II. Latin text in 
Stubbs, Select Charters, ninth edition, pp. 190- 
is 191. Translation by the editor.) 

Bk. i. 5. When any one makes complaint to the 
lord king concerning his fief or his free tenement, 
if it be a complaint such as ought to be brought to 
his court or one which the king wishes to have 
20 brought there, then the demandant shall have the 
following writ of summons: 

6. The king to the sheriff greeting. Command 
A that without delay he restore to B one hide of 
land in such a vill concerning which said B com- 
as plains that said A is deforcing him: and unless he 
shall do this summon him by good summoners, that 
he be before me or my justices on the morrow after 

58 



Origin of the Jury 

the octave of Easter to show why he has not done 
it. And have there the summoners and this writ. 

Bk. ii. 7. This Assize x is a kind of royal benefit, 
granted to the people through the kindness of the 

s prince on the advice of the great men, by means of 
which men's lives and the integrity of their status 
are so helpfully taken into consideration that in 
maintaining the right which they possess in free 
tenement of land, men are able to avoid the doubtful 

10 outcome of trial by battle. And thus it happens 
that one can escape the extreme sacrifice of an un- 
expected and premature death, or, if not that, the 
stain of eternal disgrace resulting from that hateful 
and untrue word which sounds so shamefully in the 

15 mouth of the conquered. This legal enactment is 
truly the product of the highest equity; for the ends 
of justice which, after many and long delays, it is 
hardly possible to attain by wager of battle, are 
reached both more conveniently and more quickly 

20 by these means. 

[The method of choosing the jury in the Grand 
Assize]. 

10. By such writs the tenant asks for peace and 

places himself upon the Assize, until his adversary, 

25 coming to the court, seeks another writ, which re- 

1 Refers to the Grand Assize, of which the writer has just been 
speaking. 

5 59 



Source Problems in English History 

quires that, by four legal knights of the county and 

neighborhood, there be elected twelve legal knights 

of the same neighborhood, who shall state upon 

oath which of the litigants has the greater right in 

s the land in question. 

ii. Typical Civil Pleas before the Justices of the 

Bench and- before the Justices in Eyre. 1200- 

1202. (Nos. 17, 70, 107, 197, 207, 212, 216, 

239 in Select Civil Pleas, edited for the Selden 

10 Society by W. P. Baildon. Latin originals 

and translations.) 

Surrey, a. Theobald de Ferring demands two 

hides of land with appurtenances in Battersea and 

Wandsworth against Richard de Dol' as his right 

is and inheritance; whereof Augod, his father, was 

seised as of fee and right the day and year in which 

King Henry the grandfather died, taking issues to 

the value of five shillings and more. Richard comes 

and defends l [Theobald's] right; and puts himself on 

20 the Grand Assize which of them has the greater right 

in the land. A day is given them in the advent of 

the justices, etc.; and let four knights then come 

to elect twelve. 

Northampton, b. The Assize comes to recognize 

2s what patron in the time of peace presented the last 

parson to the church of Woodford, which parson is 

dead; the advowson 2 of which [church] Ralph Bas- 

1 In the sense of denies. 

2 The right to appoint the parson. 

60 



Origin of the Jury 

set demands against the Abbot of Rochester. [The 
Abbot] comes and says that the church [of Wood- 
ford] is not vacant, because his church [of Rochester] 
has had it and possessed it for thirty years and more, 

s of the gift of Osmund Basset and William Basset. 
And the Abbot shows their charters; one whereof 
testifies that Osmund Basset gave the church [of 
Woodford] to the church of Rochester in pure [and 
perpetual alms] ; * and the other testifies that William 

10 conceded it to them as Osmund's gift. So that 
Richard de Buckton, who last died, was perpetual 
vicar of that church [Woodford], rendering to [the 
Abbot's] church [of Rochester] two marks yearly. 
And against this Ralph says that he, after the obtain- 

15 ing of the said charters, presented the said Richard 
to that church [Woodford], and thereof he puts him- 
self upon the jury. The jury say that Ralph pre- 
sented the last parson; let him have a writ to the 
bishop to admit his clerk. 

20 Kent. c. The Assize comes to recognize if Guy, 
the father of William and William, was seised in his 
demesne as of fee of two acres and a half of land with 
appurtenances in Abbeham the day that he died, 
and if he died [within the Assize], 2 which land James 

25 * The tenure commonly known as frankalmoin or free alms. Much 
land was given to the church on this tenure, which carried with it 
large immunities from secular jurisdiction and service. 

2 That is, the arbitrary time limit within which this action could 
be used. It was always made recent enough to warrant the as- 
30 sumption that the jurors' memories could be relied upon: 

61 



Source Problems in English History 

de Fugelest holds. The jury say that Guy was so 
seised the day that he died, etc., and that William 
and William are the next heirs. Judgment: Let 
them have their seisin thereof, and James is in mercy 
s for the unjust detention. 

d. The Assize comes to recognize if Stephen de 
Poundstock has unjustly and without judgment dis- 
seised Jordan the Chaplain of his free tenement in 
Trekenna after the second coronation of King 

io Richard. The jury say that [Stephen] has so dis- 
seised [Jordan]. Judgment: Let Jordan have his 
seisin, and Stephen is in mercy. Damages, three 
marks; amercement, three marks. 

e. The Assize comes to recognize if Elias, the uncle 
is of Henry de Karville, was seised in his demesne as 

of fee of one virgate of land with appurtenances in 
Lovington, on the day that he died, etc., and if the 
same Henry is his next heir; which land Beatrix de 
Karville holds. And [Beatrix] comes, and says that 

20 the Assize thereof ought not to proceed, because 
Philip, the brother of the said Elias, and the father 
of Henry, was seised of that land after the death of 
Elias; and she puts herself on the jury, and Henry 
similarly. The jury say that Philip was so seised after 

25 the death of Elias. Judgment : Let Beatrix hold in 
peace; and Henry is in mercy for a false claim. 

/. Simon de Lyndon, Hugh Scot, William de Mor- 
ton, and William son of Humphrey — four knights 
summoned to elect twelve to make the Grand Assize 

6? 



Origin of the Jury 

between William de Owmby and Adam de Bulby 
touching three carucates of land and one mill with 
appurtenances in Owmby, whereof the said William 
[de Owmby], who is the tenant, put himself on the 

s Grand Assize of the king, and craved a recognition to 
be made which of them has the greater right in that 
land, — came and elected these: — Hugh de Bussei, 
William Pigot, Martin Martel, Alured de Hadding- 
ton, William Chamberlain of Morton, William de 

io Laude, William de Woodhall, Richard de Ottring- 
ham, Ralph de Healing, Robert son of Hamo, 
Robert Ribaut, John de Lalneto, Robert son of 
William de Legbourn, Peter de Kastellium, Peter 
de Neville, and Robert de Manby. 

is g. The Assize comes to recognize if Burius, the 
father of Hugh, was seised in his demesne as of fee 
of one bovate of land with appurtenances in Withern 
the day that he died, etc., which land Robert de 
Well holds. The jury say that Burius was so seised 

20 thereof, etc. Judgment: Let Hugh have his seisin, 
and Robert is in mercy for the unjust detention. 
Robert offers to the king forty shillings to have the 
oath of twenty-four knights to convict the jurors, 
because he says that Burius was only seised of half 

25 a bovate on the day he died. 

h. The Assize comes to recognize if William son of 
Haldein has unjustly and without judgment dis- 
seised Hugh son of Richard of his free tenement in 
Wellingore after Michaelmas next [before the first 

6 3 



Source Problems in English History 

coronation of the king]. The jury say that [William] 
has not so disseised [Hugh], because [Hugh] never 
had any free tenement. Judgment: Let William 
hold; and Hugh is in mercy, 
s 12. Typical Pleas of the Crown before the Justices 
Itinerant. 1 201-1203. (Nos. 5, 6, 39, 56, 
57, 66, and 68 in Select Pleas of the Crown, 
edited for the Selden Society by F. W. Mait- 
land. Latin originals and translations.) 
10 Cornish Eyre, 1201. 

a. The jurors say that they suspect William Fis- 
man of the death of Agnes of Chilleu, for the day 
before he had threatened her body and goods. And 
the four neighboring townships being sworn, suspect 

is him of it. It is considered that he purge himself 
by water under the Assize. 

b. William Burnell and Luke of the Well are sus- 
pected of burglary at the house of Richard Palmer 
by the jurors of the hundred, and by the four neigh- 

20 boring townships, which are sworn. Let them purge 
themselves by water under the Assize. 
Lincolnshire Eyre, 1202. 

c. Ranulf , son of Richard of Saxelby, appeals 1 
Alan, Aldane's son, for that he in the king's peace 

25 and wickedly slew [Ranulf's] father Richard, and 
this he offers to deraign, 2 etc., but he does not assert 

1 Appeal is here used in the sense of formally accusing any one 
of a crime. 

2 To prove in court by one of the regular methods. 

64 



Origin of the Jury 

that he saw the deed. And being asked how long 
has elapsed since his father was slain, he says eigh- 
teen years, but he was then within age and he made 
his appeal for the first time before Hugh Bardolf. 

5 And the twelve jurors being asked if they suspect 
Alan of the said death, say that they do not. And 
Alan comes and defends all of it, etc., and craves that 
it be allowed in his favor that the justices have 
been in the parts of Lincoln several times since 

io Richard was slain, and [Ranulf] never made his ap- 
peal before them. It is considered that the appeal 
is null. So let Alan be quit. Ranulf in mercy. 
Pledges for the amercement, Robert of Owmby and 
Simon of Saxby. 

is Bedfordshire Eyre, 1202. 

d. Aubrey, wife of Peter Crawe, appealed Oliver 
and Roland, brothers of the parson of Cranfield, for 
that they wounded Peter her husband. And she 
has not prosecuted her appeal. And because Peter 

20 died, the jurors are asked whether he died of those 
wounds. They say that he did not die of those 
wounds. Let Oliver and Roland go quit thereof. 

e. The house of a certain woman at Shelton was 
burgled by night. Robert Fale is suspected of this 

as and other crimes by the jurors and the four neighbor- 
ing townships. Let him purge himself by water. 
Staffordshire Eyre, 1203. 

/. Andrew of Burwarton is suspected by the 
jurors of the death of one Hervey, for that he con- 

65 



Source Problems in English History 

cealed himself because of that death. Therefore 
let him purge himself by ordeal of water. 

g. Godith, formerly wife of Walter Palmer, ap- 
peals Richard of Stonall, for that he in the king's 

s peace wickedly and by night with his force came to 
her house and bound her and her husband, and 
afterward slew the said Walter her husband; and 
this she offers to prove against him as wife of the 
slain as the court shall consider. And he defends 

io all of it. And the jurors and the whole neighbor- 
hood suspect him of that death. And so it is con- 
sidered that he purge himself by ordeal of iron, for 
he has elected to bear the iron. 
13. Typical Pleas of the Crown before the Justices 

is Itinerant in Gloucestershire. 122 1. (Nos. 52, 

213, 228, 229, 326, and 435 in Pleas of the 
Crown for the County of Gloucester, edited by 
F. W. Maitland. Latin originals. Transla- 
tions by the editor.) 

20 a. Marinus of Winchcomb, who was charged with 
the death of a certain man in the house of his father, 
gives two marks to have an inquisition as to whether 
or not he is guilty; Matthew Cook, Odo of Dumble- 
ton, and Joseph de Marsh are accepted as pledges. 

2 5 The jurors of Winchcomb and of Kiftsgate and of 
Gretston say definitely that he is not guilty, and 
hence he is quit. 1 

1 "The jurors of the borough of Winchcomb say that Marinus 
is accused of homicide; he pays two marks to have an inquisition as 

66 



Origin of the Jury 

b. William de Fons and Alexander his son were 
suspected of the death of a certain merchant, who 
was lodged in the house of said William, and who 
was seen to be lodged there and who never came out 

s alive; and they come and deny it all but refuse to 
put themselves upon their country. 1 The jurors say 
that Alexander and Agnes his mother killed said 
merchant, and carried him out, and had from him 
fifteen marks and a belt, and his [Alexander's] father 

io was consenting; and the townships of Charlton, 
Leckhampton, and Ham say the same, and they 
well know that he was lodged there and that he 
was carried out dead. Let William be kept in gaol. 
Let him be committed to twelve legal men by order 

is of the sheriff, and let the others remain in gaol. 2 

c. William Bot and Hugelot his son have been 
arrested on the indictment of twelve jurors because 
of their reception of John Bot, brother of said Will- 
to his guilt or innocence : then the jurors of two neighboring hun- 

ao dreds are called in and all say distinctly that he is not guilty. He 
buys the privilege of being tried by twenty-four jurors in addition 
to the twelve who have presented the matter." — Maitland. 

1 That is, accept trial by jury. 

2 "This is the clearest case there is on this roll against trying, or 
25 rather against punishing, those who do not submit themselves to 

trial. Apparently William, Alexander, and Agnes have as full a, trial 
as any accused person ever has. The jurors and the three townships 
declare them guilty; but Alexander and Agnes merely remain in 
gaol, while William is, I think, let out on bail, though this last fact 
30 is left somewhat obscure." — Maitland. Another manuscript re- 
cording this same case has for its last clause (referring to Alexander 
and Agnes), "And because they did not place themselves upon their 
country let them be kept in gaol." 

6 7 



Source Problems in English History 

iam, a fugitive on account of sheep which he stole, 
and likewise because of their reception of a certain 
other thief who was hung, and also for other male- 
factions of which said jurors suspect said William 
5 and Hugelot. And they come before the justices 
and deny the reception and society of the thief, and 
their consent, and place themselves upon the ver- 
dict of the twelve jurors and upon their country 
for good or bad. 

io The jurors say definitely that said William re- 
ceived said John after that flight, and they well 
know that he was to have his share from the thefts 
of said John. They say also that he received 
Walter de Hedworth the thief who was hung after 

is Roger Goman, father of said Walter, fled from him 
on account of the theft. And because Hugelot, son 
of said William, was living with him [William] and 
was of his household, the jurors say that he also 
was a party to that reception and the other male- 

ao factions. And the townships of Horsley, Wood- 
chester, Rodmarton, and Tetbury say the same, and 
therefore it is considered that they be hung. 

d. William of Lechlade was arrested upon the in- 
dictment of twelve jurors for the theft of some sheep 

25 that had been stolen. And he came before the jus- 
tices and refused to put himself upon a jury. And 
they [the twelve jurors] say upon oath that they 
believe him to be the thief of sheep that were stolen 
at Bibury, but they do not know the names of those 

68 



Origin of the Jury 

whose sheep they were; and the townships of Lech- 
lade, Southrop, Hathrop, and Kempsford [say the 
same, and therefore let him be kept in custody]. 1 
e. Malefactors came to the house of William de 
5 Hull of Elniton, and killed said William and carried 
off his goods; Reginald Cook and Geoffrey Bochan, 
arrested for that death, come before the justices and 
deny it all and put themselves on the verdict of 
twelve jurors and the townships. Who all come 

io and say that they do not suspect them nor any par- 
ticular man; and therefore let them go quit thereof. 
/. Henry Piterich of Whaddon was held in the 
castle of the lord king at Gloucester for stolen sheep 
whereof he was accused; and afterward at the lord 

is king's command by writ he was let out on bail until 
the coming of the justices; and then comes said 
Henry and denies the theft, etc.; but he does not 
wish to put himself upon the verdict of the twelve 
jurors, and therefore let him be kept in custody. 

20 i These last words are found in a badly mutilated manuscript. 
"Seemingly another case, in which a man is tried and found guilty 
by the jurors and four townships, but is merely left in custody be- 
cause he has not put himself on his country. It is to be noticed, 
however, that the jurors do not know to whom the sheep belonged. 

as In this case it seems clear that the jurors, who say on their oath 
that they know William to be a thief, are the same jurors upon whose 
indictment he was captured." — Maitland. 



PROBLEM III 
III. — Some Antecedents of the House of Commons 



Some Antecedents of the House of 
Commons 

I. THE HISTORICAL SETTING OP THE PROBLEM 

THE same conditions in society and central government 
which brought forth the jury system brought forth 
also the House of Commons. 1 The beginnings of self- 
government were along these two lines. Judging of fact 
is doubtless the most important step in judicial procedure ; 
and in England, by a striking and unprecedented com- 
bination of circumstances, this function, in the great civil 
and criminal cases, passed into the hands of representa- 
tives of the middle class. The circumstances which pre- 
pared the way for a central assembly of popularly elected 
representatives are equally interesting, and were surely 
as unaccompanied by any purposeful shaping in the direc- 
tion of the final result. 

Anglo-Saxon government had been characterized by 
the slightness of the connection between central and local 
institutions and the comparative unimportance of the 
former. The later kings felt that they should do more, 
and were conscious of many of the gaps and weak places. 

Sit is suggested that the student reread here the "Historical Set- 
ting" of Problem II. 

73 



Source Problems in English History 

But, for the most part, they were wanting in the neces- 
sary strength and resourcefulness; and the same futile 
methods were tried reign after reign. The perseverance 
and optimism of many of these sovereigns deserve com- 
mendation, but little else. Government was marking 
time. The sheriff, however, a purely royal official who 
did king's business in the shire, was one substantial 
achievement in the attempt to bring the king into more 
effective touch with the localities. It was a hint of the 
long process that, after the Norman Conquest, made the 
constitution. 

The Conqueror saw possibilities in the sheriff and re- 
tained him. In succeeding reigns he was used as never 
before, and the strong kings kept him, great local landed 
proprietor as he usually was, from traveling too far on 
the tempting road to feudal independence. But the 
king's business was growing by leaps and bounds, and in 
Henry I.'s reign, partly to supplement the sheriff and 
partly to hold him in check, itinerant justices — the missi 
dominici of England — were developed. The anarchy of 
Stephen's reign interrupted all good beginnings, and, had 
it lasted longer, much might have been lost past recovery. 
Then came Henry II. (with whose reign the documents 
of this Problem begin) , a king endowed, if ever king was, 
with just the right qualities to meet the governmental 
problems and opportunities of his time. It is always 
pleasant to think of the young sovereign, scarce twenty- 
one when he came to the throne, with his rare apprecia- 
tive deference for the great past of his grandfather's reign, 
and perhaps already conscious of endless resources within 
himself. 

Norman and Plantagenet rulers were learning much 
about local institutions and conditions — about hundred 
and shire courts, about tithing and frank-pledge, about 

74 



Antecedents of the House of Commons 

the boroughs, about freeholders and knights. They saw 
always more work to do, more information to be sought, 
new ways to develop their courts, to swell their revenue, 
to keep the country in peace. The work was so varied 
that all sorts of men, official and unofficial, might be em- 
ployed. Some of it, indeed, could perhaps be better done 
by unofficial means; there were temporary and isolated 
jobs in plenty. And so in this turbulent time, when the 
crash of the Conquest had broken barriers and opened 
ways and England was making ready for her next great 
reach forward in civilization, these new relations between 
center and locality were big with possibilities. Knight and 
freeholder — the stuff out of which the House of Com- 
mons was made — had entered upon their apprenticeship 
in public service; and many principles and devices were 
being hammered out in the daily practice of local adminis- 
tration which had an unguessed future before them in the 
broader sphere of national polity. 

II. INTRODUCTIONS TO THE SOURCES 

i. Inquest of Sheriffs. 

Henry's proceedings against his sheriffs is thus de- 
scribed in one of the chronicles of his reign: 1 "When 
the Easter festival was ended he [the king] proceeded 
to London, and there held a great council concerning the 
coronation of his elder son Henry, and also concerning 
the affairs of his kingdom; and there he removed almost 
all the sheriffs of England and their bailiffs, because they 
had treated badly the men of his kingdom. And all of 
the sheriffs and their bailiffs found pledges for themselves 
that they would stand to justice, and that they would 
restore to the lord king and the men of the kingdom what 

1 Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi, I, 4-5. 
75 



Source Problems in English History 

they ought to restore of the things they had taken. And 
afterwards the king caused all the men of his kingdom, 
that is to say earls, barons, knights, freeholders, and also 
villeins, throughout the several counties, to take oath 
on the holy gospels that they would tell the truth: name- 
ly, what and how much the sheriffs and their bailiffs had 
taken from them, what by a judgment and what with- 
out a judgment, and for what kind of misdeed. But great 
evil came thence to the people of England; because, after 
the inquisition had been made, the king put back some of 
those sheriffs into their places, and these were afterwards 
much more cruel than they had been before." This im- 
portant proceeding took place in 1 1 70, after the king had 
been out of the country for four years. These were the 
four years following the Assize of Clarendon. Large quanti- 
ties of property had been confiscated as a result of the 
criminal proceedings instituted by that Assize, and the 
sheriffs were evidently under suspicion of having appro- 
priated some of this to their own use; the recent heavy 
aid which had been levied on the occasion of the marriage 
of the king's eldest daughter also afforded opportunities to 
dishonest sheriffs ; and it is clear that in very many ways 
the sheriffs had been growing corrupt and abusive. A thor- 
ough investigation of them and their subordinates, by 
the standard method of getting all local information, was 
determined on. But it is interesting to notice that, 
having gone so far, the king concluded that it would be 
a good time to make a general investigation of the whole 
local administration, private as well as public; and so 
the entire baronial system of courts and finance was 
included. Henry, who was so rapidly developing his 
own courts and who certainly had an eye to judicial in- 
come, was probably curious to find out how much the 
barons were realizing from theirs. It was to be a colossal 

76 



Antecedents of the House of Commons 

inquest, perhaps the most extensive since Domesday; 
and, as Stubbs has remarked, if the report was ever made 
it "must have been a record of the most interesting kind 
conceivable." 

2. Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi Benedicti Abbatis. 
This is perhaps the greatest chronicle from an age of 

specially able chronicle-writing. The group of historians 
more or less identified with Henry II. 's court represents 
some of the best thought and practice in historical method 
in the middle ages, and constituted one of the many high 
influences from that period felt for long afterward. This 
chronicle covers Henry II. 's reign from 1170 and also 
three years of the reign of Richard I.; the writing of it 
began about 11 72 and was carried on in very strictly 
contemporaneous fashion. Its style is remarkably simple 
and direct, its material well chosen, and its accuracy and 
fairness of statement have been proved in so many in- 
stances that it inspires confidence throughout. It is 
known that it was not written 'by Benedict, abbot of 
Peterborough, whose name has long been identified 
with it. 

In the passage cited, the choice of the bishop and 
abbots was to be made in the way that had been regular 
since the famous compromise between Henry I. and 
Anselm — the election took place in the king's presence 
and the king's will was usually the predominant factor. 
But the king needed information and advice in regard 
to the available candidates, and used various ways to get 
it. The way shown here seems particularly effective and 
interesting. 

3. The Assize of Arms, one of the great official acts of 
Henry II. 's reign, was a successful attempt to rehabilitate 
the ancient militia. The king was depending more and 
more upon mercenaries in his wars in France, and less 

77 



Source Problems in English History 

and less upon the feudal levy for defense in England. 
The association of knights and non-noble freemen, urban 
and rural, in this militia ordinance shows that feudal dis- 
tinctions and practices already had little vitality in Eng- 
land, and is very significant for the future. It is another 
evidence that England's great and peculiar middle class 
was forming. The character of the arms purchased was 
to depend upon the amount of property which a man 
possessed, and article 9 is important in showing how in- 
formation on this point was obtained. 

4. Ordinance of the Saladin Tithe. 

This is an illustration of a very important result of the 
later crusades, the development of new forms of taxation. 
Increasing attempts were made adequately to organize 
and finance these great expeditions, and necessity was the 
mother of many a new idea and device. The Saladin 
Tithe virtually introduced to England the taxation of 
revenue and movables; and taxation of this kind of prop- 
erty created a new problem in assessment. This ordi- 
nance was issued by Henry a few days after he and Philip 
of France had completed the preliminary arrangements 
for setting out on the third crusade. 

5. Form of Proceeding on the Judicial Visitation. 
This document was the commission given the justices 

who were sent out on circuit late in 1194. "The general 
business of the visitation," says Stubbs, "is of the usual 
mixed kind, judicial and financial, and should be com- 
pared with the Inquest of Sheriffs in 11 70, as well as with 
the Assizes of 1166 and 1176." It should be remembered 
that much of this financial business closely touched the 
sheriffs, and the central power was here using the jury, 
not only on the great criminal and civil pleas which came 
before the justices in eyre, but also to learn the truth 
about local officials and administration, The coroners, 

78 



Antecedents of the House of Commons 

who are mentioned in the twentieth article, were a class 
of officials first appointed in Henry II. 's reign. This was 
the earliest of a long series of royal experiments in trans- 
ferring a part of the sheriff's power and authority to a 
new officer. The very early coroners were local criminal 
justices who could try cases and impanel juries to make 
presentments. But soon their chief duty was to "keep 
the pleas of the crown." This meant that they held pre- 
liminary hearings and kept a record of local criminal 
matters for later use by sheriff or itinerant justice. It is 
clear that the king did not wish to have their selection 
in any way controlled by the sheriffs. It should be 
noticed from what classes of people they were drawn. 

6. Summons of Juries to St. Albans. 

This is a contemporary chronicler's transcript of a 
writ which is not itself extant. It therefore lacks the 
authority of an official document, but there is little reason 
to doubt that the transcript gives the substance of the 
writ itself. The king had just become reconciled with 
the church after their long quarrel. It was immediately 
incumbent upon him to make good, as far as possible, the 
damages and losses which he had for five years been in- 
flicting on church property. This could best be done on 
the basis of an assessment by local juries acquainted with 
the details of the seizures and injuries. In 1208, when 
the first and greatest seizures of church property had been 
made, the confiscated property was intrusted to the 
keeping of men in neighboring vills, undoubtedly vills 
on the king's demesne. This accounts for the use of 
demesne-vill juries for the assessment of 12 13. It may 
be added that the assessment was not carried out accord- 
ing to the plan of this writ. About two months later a 
series of local inquests was undertaken on the initiative 
of the church, and the king co-operated. 

79 



Source Problems in English History 

7. Summons to a Great Council. 

In this case the official text of the writ of summons has 
come down to us. Notice the different purposes for 
which the several elements were summoned. Whether 
or not the proposed assembly met and what was the 
business to be transacted are matters upon which there 
is no information. The autumn of 12 13 was a time of 
much anxiety and activity on John's part. He was pre- 
paring for his last great effort to regain his lost lands in 
France and was hampered at every turn by the English 
barons whom he had alienated by years of abusive rule. 

8. Magna Carta. 

This most notable document in English history was 
based upon a list of articles (Articuli Baronum) presented 
to John by the army of victorious barons at Runnymede 
on Monday, June 15, 12 15. These articles, which the 
king was forced to grant, were the result of a series of 
attempts, running through the spring of 12 15, to draw 
up a comprehensive list of the points of abuse and mis- 
government upon which the barons proposed to treat 
with him. During the four or five days following this 
eventful Monday, the articles were carefully reworded 
and expanded, and the whole document cast in the form 
of a permanent charter or grant of the king. This final 
form was no doubt due in large part to the coronation 
charter of Henry I., which figured prominently in some 
meetings of the barons where plans of action against the 
king were discussed. 

9. Writ for Assembling the County Court before the 
Itinerant Justices. 

This very inclusive county assembly was only held 
once in several years; it was the court summoned to meet 
the itinerant justices when they were sent out with one 
of their general commissions, and was much larger and 

80 



Antecedents of the House of Commons 

more formal than the ordinary monthly county court of 
this time. "The justices who were sent out on such 
visitations had tremendous commissions; they not only 
tried all sorts of cases, but were still, as in the earlier 
time, collectors of revenue, and might be charged to at- 
tend to any kind of king's business. Henry III. got a 
great revenue by their means. They put local juries on 
oath for a great variety of purposes, their visitation being 
a prolonged inquiry into every matter that could possibly 
concern the king." It was this great variety and amount 
of business and the necessity for having on hand the 
materials for making up a jury for almost any purpose, 
administrative or judicial, that account for the very in- 
clusive summons illustrated in this document. 

10. Writ for the Collection of a Carucage. 

The methods of' assessing and collecting taxes varied 
much in detail during this period. But one element in 
them approached stability. This was the employment 
of local knights. The number, the method of choice, 
the precise way in which they were to conduct the assess- 
ment or were to co-operate with sheriff or royal com- 
missioners changed from time to time and from tax to 
tax; but the knights usually bore the burden of work 
and responsibility. This royal writ for the carucage of 
1 2 20 furnishes as typical an instance as any, and its very 
emphatic account of some features of the procedure is 
interesting. The carucage was a land tax assessed on 
the "ploughland" or "plough." This measure of land 
approximated 100 acres, the amount which the regular 
plough team was supposed to work in a season. 

11. Distraint of Knighthood. 

This is the first of a long series of attempts, known 
under the general term "distraint of knighthood," to 
make all who had the property qualifications for knight- 

81 



Source Problems in English History 

hood assume its name and insignia, and, what was of 
vastly more consequence, its burdens. Ten years later, 
a similar writ was issued, but applying only to those who 
held knights' fees of the king. The king received no 
small revenue from the fines and confiscations resulting 
from the enforcement of these writs. Much is heard of 
distraint of knighthood in the following reign. 

12. Writ Summoning Four Knights of the Shire. 

In June, 1226, a writ similar to this had been sent to 
eight counties — Gloucester, Dorset, Somerset, Bedford, 
Buckingham, Westmoreland, Northampton, and Lincoln. 
The meeting was to have been held at Lincoln the fol- 
lowing September. But the king, finding that he could 
not be present on the day set, sent out word on Sep- 
tember 2 that the meeting was not to be held, and hence 
it would not be necessary to elect the knights. Nothing 
further is heard of the matter until the next year, when 
the writ here printed was sent out on August 13. Evi- 
dently these local disputes about provisions in Magna 
Carta had spread and become more serious, so that now 
it was thought necessary to hold a nation-wide hearing 
on the subject. The king wished to hear the people's 
story from their own elected representatives. It was 
probably before the king and his council that the knights 
and sheriffs were to appear at Westminster. 

13. Writ Summoning Representatives of Seven Bor- 
oughs. 

The first five towns mentioned in this writ are the 
Cinque Ports, the ancient group of southeastern ports, 
charged with special burdens of defense and enjoying 
compensating honors and privileges. There are several 
instances during the first part of the thirteenth century in 
which the king transacted business with the Cinque Ports 
by methods similar to that shown here. But in this case 

82 



Antecedents of the House of Commons 

the two "ancient towns" of Rye and Winchelsea were 
included in the summons. The very critical relations 
with France just at this time were probably the occasion 
of the meeting. 

14. Writ Summoning Two Knights of the Shire. 

As the king was conducting the campaign in Gascony, 
this writ was sent out by the authority of the queen and 
the king's brother, the Earl of Cornwall. A great council 
had just been held (January 27) and the prelates had on 
that occasion refused to make any engagements on be- 
half of the lower clergy. Indeed they mentioned some 
concessions which they believed would have to be made 
in order to secure a money grant for the present purpose. 
But they promised to use all diligence and zeal in setting 
forth the king's need and in obtaining as liberal a grant 
as possible. So, on the same day that the writ here 
printed was sent out to the counties, writs having the same 
object were sent to the several bishoprics, suggesting 
diocesan meetings of the clergy for the presentation and 
discussion of the matter; and from these meetings "dis- 
creet men" were to come up to Westminster to certify 
the king's council of the local actions. As to the attitude 
of the laymen, the regents wrote to the king three days 
after these writs were sent that they did not believe he 
would obtain an aid from them unless he were able in 
some way to convince them of his bona-fide intention to 
observe and enforce the charter of liberties. This was 
already an old grievance. Magna Carta had thus early 
acquired a great name and was an object of reverence, 
and, often as Henry III. had broken faith, his solemn 
promise to keep the charter was the surest way to win 
money from his people. 

15. Writ Summoning Three Knights of the Shire. 

In April, 1261, Henry had been released by papal bull 

83 



Source Problems in English History 

from the oath which bound him to observe the Provisions 
of Oxford; and he forthwith proceeded to restore the 
government as rapidly as possible to the old basis. This 
of course greatly alarmed the baronage, for they saw all 
the fruits of their victory and great labor in 1258 slipping 
away from them. The pressing danger did a great deal 
to heal the feuds that success had bred in the barons' 
ranks, especially the feud between the earls of Leicester 
and Gloucester; and during the summer and autumn, 
something of the former unity of action was restored. 
The barons evidently felt the need of a broader backing, 
and, in this new crisis, proposed to consult the gentry. 
This seems to have been the purpose of the summons re- 
ferred to in the king's writ here printed, and this is all 
that is known of it. But the king's party could not allow 
the opposition the advantage of this conference, and hence 
attempted to forestall it. There is nothing to show 
whether or not either of these rival meetings was held. 

16. Writ Summoning Four Knights of the Shire. 
The battle of Lewes, in which Simon de Montfort 

and his followers won their great victory, was fought in 
May, 1264. It left Simon in substantial authority, but 
writs were issued and all other business done in the name 
of the captive king. Three weeks after the battle the 
writ here printed was issued. The proposed assembly 
was held, and transacted important business relating to 
a provisional scheme of government under which the 
country was to be ruled until the points in controversy 
could be settled in some permanent way. 

17. Writs Relating to the Assembly of January, 1265. 
Most of the summoning writs for this assembly were 

issued in December of the same year as the preceding; 
but the writs to the Cinque Ports appear not to have 
been issued until the very day of assembling, unless, as 



Antecedents of the House of Commons 

there is some evidence, there was postponement or delay 
of a week. From June to December, Simon had been fully- 
occupied in securing the fruits of victory, and in attempt- 
ing to subdue or reconcile many half-conquered or dis- 
contented elements. He had no united baronage back of 
him; he led a faction. He had before this shown a dispo- 
sition to seek a broad foundation of counsel and support in 
the English middle classes, and the present situation car- 
ried him much further in the same direction. The as- 
sembly which met in January continued well into March, 
and, for the most part, served its expected purpose. The 
form of government proposed in the assembly of the 
previous June was confirmed and very favorable terms 
were made with the king's son, Edward, the strongest 
man on the royal side. It may perhaps be said that 
during the days of this assembly Simon's fortunes were 
at their height; and yet the bitter quarrel with the Earl 
of Derby was itself an indication of the sources of the 
swift and complete overthrow which was impending. 

III. QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS POR STUDY 

[In answering the questions on this problem, the student is ex- 
pected to use also, when necessary, the sources printed for Problem 
II-] 

i. In the cases of sworn inquest from Henry II. 's reign or 
earlier, from what classes were men most frequently 
selected? What were their chief qualifications? 

2. Why were so many different classes asked questions in the 

Inquest of Sheriffs? With what general lines of infor- 
mation was the king concerned here? 

3. How did the Assize of Arms involve taxation? Just what 

was the function of the sworn inquest here? In what 
other document or documents was it used in sub- 
stantially the same way? 
85 



Source Problems in English History 

Enumerate the instances here shown for the twelfth cen- 
tury in which the sworn inquest was used entirely apart 
from court procedure. Find a case or cases in which 
the same group was questioned on both judicial and 
non-judicial matters. 

In what reign was there the greatest activity in applying 
the sworn inquest to new kinds of business? 

In what ways besides the sworn inquest was the king em- 
ploying men in local governmental affairs? Did any 
of these involve an official position? 

When did the method of choosing men for inquests or other 
local purposes begin to change? What proves that 
there was a change? What does it seem likely was the 
earlier method? When first is the new method found 
in its completed form? How generally does the new 
method seem to have been adopted? Can you suggest 
any reason for the change? 

What is the clearest example of the principle of representa- 
tion in the reign of Henry II.? In what sense were the 
men on a sworn inquest acting in a representative 
capacity? 

What was the first instance of the king's purposing to gather 
jurors from various parts of the country to one place? 
What had been the earlier method of dealing with scat- 
tered juries which were to be questioned on the same 
matter? Suggest some reasons for the change. 

When first did the king summon a fixed number of men 
from each county to a central assembly? For what 
purpose did he summon them? 

When were popularly-elected knights from each county 
first summoned to a central assembly? On what busi- 
ness were they summoned? Did they come as repre- 
sentatives? What arguments pro or con can you make 
on this last point? 

What was the second instance of concentration of popu- 
larly-elected knights of the shire? Make a careful 
comparison of these two cases from the point of view 
86 



Antecedents of the House of Commons 

of the functions and representative character of the 
elected knights.- Is there anything to show, in either 
case, before whom the knights were expected to ap- 
pear? 

13. How does the knights' previous history account for the 

king's use of them in these instances? Can you sug- 
gest any reason for the measures known as "distraint 
of knighthood"? 

14. Of what local representative assembly do you find evidence? 

To just what extent was it representative? Give 
reasons for or against the view that this assembly sug- 
gested the practice of summoning local representa- 
tives to the center. 

15. Is there any respect in which the 1261 assembly represents 

an advance over previous ones? The 1264 assembly? 

16. From what sources may Simon de Montfort have received 

suggestions for the new element in his assembly of 
1265? 

17. What was done about the counties which failed to return 

knights to this 1265 meeting? How does this measure 
illustrate the undeveloped state of these practices? 

18. In which instance is there evidence that knights were paid 

wages or expenses for representing their counties in a 
central assembly? 

19. In which of the central assemblies does information seem 

to have been the chief thing wanted from the local 
representatives? In which was counsel wanted? 

20. In which assemblies is there evidence that the local repre- 

sentatives acted with, or in any way became a part of, a 
great council of barons? Is there anything which shows 
whether or not such association was considered normal 
or desirable? 
a 1. Where does it seem to you lay the responsibility or initiative 
in the various practices which led up to these assemblies? 



IV. The Sources 

i. Inquest of Sheriffs. 1170. (Latin text in Stubbs, 

Select Charters, ninth edition, pp. 175-178. 

Translation by the editor.) 

In the first place the barons shall require security 

5 and pledge from all sheriffs who have been sheriffs 

since the lord king last crossed into Normandy, and 

from all who have been bailiffs or ministers of these 

[sheriffs], whatever bailiwick they have held from 

them; also from all those who since that time have 

10 held hundreds of the barons which they [the barons] 

have in the county, whether they have held them at 

firm or in custody; — that they will be before the lord 

king on the day which they [the barons] shall set 

for them for the purpose of doing right and redressing 

is to him and his men what they ought to redress. . . . 

Afterward they [the barons] shall take oath from 

all the barons and knights and free men of the 

county that they will tell the truth concerning that 

which shall be asked of them on behalf of the lord 

20 king; and that they will not conceal the truth for 

love of any one or for hatred or for money or reward 

or for fear or promise or for anything else. 

88 



Antecedents of the House of Commons 

[There follows here a large number of items of inquiry 
grouped in some twelve articles. They relate mainly 
to the doings of the sheriffs and other local officials, to 
various sources of revenue, both royal and baronial, and 

s the condition of the royal demesne.] 
2. Gesta Regis Henrici Secundi Benedicti Abbatis. 
1 175. (Latin text from the Rolls Series edition, 
I, 91, 92. Translation by the editor.) 
And so, the council having ended, the lord king, 

10 and with him the king his son, took his journey in 
pilgrimage to the blessed Thomas of Canterbury, 
martyr. And returning thence, they held court 
and royal festival on Whitsunday at Reading. And 
from there the king sent with his letters one of his 

is clerks, Roger of Hoveden by name, to the church 
of Norwich which was then vacant, its pastor having 
died, and to the vacant abbeys throughout England ; 
notifying the prior and convent of the vacant abbeys 
that the prior himself with five or more of the more 

20 discreet and wiser of his house, who would, suffice 
for the purpose, were to come to Oxford to meet him 
and the lord archbishop of Canterbury on the 
Nativity of St. John the Baptist, 1 for the purpose 
of electing the needed pastor for his house. And 

23 he commanded that each prior bring with him letters 
of the convent to the effect that the others who re- 
mained at home would regard as valid whatever he 
and those who came with him might do. Likewise 

x June 24. 
89 



Source Problems in English History 

the Archbishop of Canterbury wrote to the same 
houses that the prior and with him five or more of 
the wiser and more discreet, with letters of the con- 
vent, as stated above, should come to meet himself 
5 and the lord king, to elect themselves a pastor. 
And he sent Master Robert of Hinglisham, his clerk, 
to the said abbeys with the said king's clerk. There 
were at that time twelve abbeys vacant in England 
in the diocese of Canterbury, whose names follow; 
10 and, besides, the bishopric of Norwich. 

3. Assize of Arms. 1181. (Latin text in Stubbs, 

Select Charters, ninth edition, pp. 183, 184. 

Translation by the editor.) 

1. Whoever has the fee of one knight let him 
15 have a coat of mail and a helmet, a sword and a 

lance; and let every knight have as many coats of 
mail and helmets, swords and lances, as he has 
knights' fees in his demesne. 

2. Any free layman who has in chattels or in in- 
ao come to the value of sixteen marks, let him have a 

coat of mail and helmet, sword and lance; but any 
free layman who has ten marks in chattels or income 
is to have a hauberk, an iron headpiece, and a lance. 

3. Also all burgesses and the whole body of free 
25 men are to have a doublet of mail, an iron head- 
piece, and a lance. 

9. And the justices shall cause an oath to be taken 
by lawful knights or by as many other free and law- 

90 



Antecedents of the House of Commons 

ful men of the hundreds and of the boroughs as they 
shall deem proper who have the worth of chattels 
on the basis of which one ought to have a coat of 
mail and helmet, lance and sword, as stated above, 

s that they will name to them one after another all 
of their hundreds and of their neighborhoods and 
of their boroughs who have sixteen marks in chattels 
or in income, and likewise those who have ten marks. 
And afterward the justices shall cause a record to 

io be made of all those jurors and of the others who 
have that amount of chattels or income and of the 
arms which they ought to have according to the 
value of their chattels or income. . . . 
4. Ordinance of the Saladin Tithe. 1188. (Latin 

is text in Stubbs, Select Charters, ninth edition, 

p. 189. Translation by the editor.) 

1. Every one shall this year give in alms a tenth 
of his revenue and movables, excepting the arms, 
horses, and equipment of the knights; likewise ex- 

20 cepting the horses, books, equipment, vestments, 
and all manner of furnishings for divine service of 
the clergy, and also the precious stones of both clerks 
and laymen. 

2. This money is to be collected in the several 
as parishes, there being present the parish priest, the 

archpriest, a Templar, and a Hospitaler, a minister 
of the lord king, and a clerk of the king, a minister 
of the baron and the baron's clerk, and a clerk of 
the bishop; excommunication having been previ- 
7 91 



Source Problems in English History 

ously pronounced by archbishops, bishops, and the 
arch-priests in the several parishes upon any one who 
should not rightfully give the assessed tenth, in the 
presence and with the knowledge of those who ought 

5 to be there, as aforesaid. And if, to their knowledge, 
any one should give less than he ought, let there be 
chosen from the parish four or six lawful men, who 
shall state upon oath the amount which he ought to 
have declared; and then that ought to be added to 

io his smaller payment. 

5 . Form of Proceeding on the Judicial Visitation. 1 1 94 . 
(Latin text in Stubbs, Select Charters, ninth edi- 
tion, pp. 252-257. Translation by the editor.) 
In the first place there are to be chosen four 
is knights from the whole county, who upon their oath 
shall choose two lawful knights from each hundred 
or wapentake, and these two shall choose upon their 
oath ten knights from the several hundreds or wapen- 
takes; or, if knights be lacking, lawful and free men, 
20 so that these twelve may at the same time make 
answer upon all the heads for the whole hundred or 
wapentake. 

[There follow twenty-five heads or articles showing 
a great variety of both judicial and general adminis- 
25 trative business upon which the jurors were questioned. 
The twentieth article refers to coroners, who were prob- 
ably chosen by some form of popular election in the 
county court.] 

92 



Antecedents of the House of Commons 

20. Moreover, in each county let there be chosen 
three knights and one clerk keepers of the pleas of 
the crown. 

6. Summons of Juries to St. Albans. July 21, 12 13. 
5 (Latin text in Stubbs, Select Charters, ninth 

edition, p. 271. Translation by the editor.) 
On the morrow the king sent letters to all the 
sheriffs of the kingdom of England, commanding 
that they should cause to assemble at St. Albans, 
10 on August fourth, four lawful men and the reeve 
from the several vills of his demesne, so that through 
them and his other ministers he might make inquiry 
concerning the damages and losses of the individual 
bishops, and what he owed each. 
is 7. Summons to a Great Council. November 7, 12 13. 
(Latin text in Stubbs, Select Charters, ninth 
edition, p. 282. Translation by the editor.) 
The king to the sheriff of Oxford, greeting. We 
command you that all the knights of your bailiwick, 
20 who have been summoned to be with us at Oxford 
fifteen days after All Saints' Day, you cause to come 
with their arms; likewise the barons, but without 
arms; and you are to cause to come to us there at 
the same time four discreet men of your county to 
as speak with us about the affairs of our kingdom. 
Witness myself at Witney, the seventh day of No- 
vember. 

In the same way it is written to all the sheriffs. 
8. Magna Carta. June 15, 12 15. (Printed in full 

93 



Source Problems in English History 

in the Appendix, pp. 380-396. In connection 
with this problem, study especially articles 
18 and 48.) 
9. Writ for Assembling the County Court before the 
5 Itinerant Justices. 12 18. (Latin text in Rotuli 

Litterarum Clausarum, I, 380. Translation by 
the editor.) 
The king to the sheriff of Yorkshire, greeting. 
Summon by good summoners all the archbishops, 
10 bishops, abbots, earls and barons, knights and free- 
holders of your whole bailiwick, and from each vill 
four lawful men and the reeve and from each bor- 
ough twelve lawful burgesses throughout your whole 
bailiwick, and all others of your bailiwick who are 
is accustomed and ought to come before the justices 
itinerant, that they be at York before our justices 
fifteen days after St. Martin's Day 1 to hear and 
obey our command. And you are to cause to come 
before them at that time all pleas of the crown which 
20 have not been tried and which have arisen since the 
last assize (before the justices itinerant) was in those 
parts in the time of King John our father, and all 
attachments pertaining to those pleas, and all assizes 
and all pleas which have been set for the first assize 
as before the justices, with the writs of the assizes and 
pleas ; so that not any of those assizes and pleas may 
remain unconcluded because of any fault of yours 
or your summons. And you are to have proclaimed 

1 November 11. 
94 



Antecedents of the House of Commons 

and made known throughout your whole bailiwick 
that all assizes and all pleas, which have been placed 
on the docket and not concluded before our justices 
at Westminster, are to be then brought before the 
5 said justices at York in that state in which they 
have remained at Westminster by our command. 
Summon also by good summoners all those who have 
been sheriffs since the last eyre of the justices in 
those parts, that they then be there before the said 

io justices with the writs of the assizes and pleas which 
they received in their time, and to answer for their 
time as they ought to answer before justices itiner- 
ant; and you are to have there the summoners and 
this writ. Witness Earl William Marshall, guard- 

15 ian of ourself and our kingdom, 1 at Westminster, 
the fourth day of November. Before Stephen arch- 
bishop of Canterbury and Peter bishop of Winchester 
and the bishop of Durham. 

In the same way it is written to all the sheriffs of 

20 England except those of Gloucester, Worcester, 
Hereford, Stafford and Shropshire, Leicester and 
Warwick, and Surrey; but the place varies as is 
shown on the dorse of the letters patent. 
10. Writ for the Collection of a Carucage. 1220. 

25 (Latin text in Stubbs, Select Charters, ninth 

edition, p. 349. Translation by the editor.) 

The king to the sheriff of Northampton, greeting. 

Know that, because of our great necessity and at 

1 Henry III. was but eleven years old. 
95 



Source Problems in English History 

the most urgent instance of our creditors, as also 
for the preservation of our land of Poitou, all the 
magnates and faithful of our whole kingdom have 
of their good will given their common consent that 
s a grant be made us, viz., from each plough as it 
was joined on the morrow of the Blessed John the 
Baptist last past, in the fourth year of our reign, 
two shillings, to be collected by your hand and the 
hands of two of the more lawful knights of your 

io county, who are to be elected to do this by the will 
and counsel of all of the county in full county court. 
And so we command you, firmly and strictly enjoin- 
ing that, having summoned your full county court, 
by the will and counsel of those of the county court 

15 you cause to be elected two of the more lawful 
knights of the whole county, who shall better know, 
wish, and be able to prosecute this business to our 
advantage; and having associated them with you, 
you are immediately to cause that grant to be as- 

20 sessed and collected from the several ploughs through 
your whole bailiwick, as aforesaid, excepting the 
demesne of archbishops, bishops, and their villeins, 
and excepting the demesne of the Cistercian and 
Premonstratensian orders. . . . 

25 ii. Distraint of Knighthood. 1224. (Latin text in 
Rotuli Litterarum Clausarum, II, 69. Trans- 
lation by the editor.) 
The king to the sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk, 
greeting. We command you that without delay 

96 



Antecedents of the House of Commons 

you cause it to be proclaimed throughout your whole 
bailiwick that every layman of full age who holds 
the fief of one knight or more in your bailiwick and 
is not a knight shall, before the Sunday following 

5 Easter in the ninth year [of our reign], assume arms 
and have himself made knight, as he loves the fief 
or fiefs which he holds. Witness as above. [The 
king at Westminster, 16th November.] 

In the same way it is written to all the sheriffs. 

io 12. Writ Summoning Four Knights of the Shire. 
1227. (Latin text in Rotuli Litter arum Clau- 
sarum, II, 212, 213. Translation by the edi- 
tor.) 
The king to the sheriff of Cumberland, greeting. 

15 We command you that in your full county court you 
say to the knights and good men of your bailiwick 
that they elect from among themselves four of the 
more lawful and discreet knights, who are to be 
before us at Westminster, three weeks after the feast 

20 of St. Michael, for the whole county, for the purpose 
of there showing the complaint, if they have any, 
against you in regard to the articles contained in 
the charter of liberties granted to them; and you 
yourself are then to be there to show reason for the 

as demand which you make against them. . . . And 
you are to have there the summoners and the names 
of the knights . . . and this writ. Witness the king 
at Northampton, the thirteenth day of August, the 
eleventh year, etc. 

97 



Source Problems in English History 

[There appear on the roll the names of thirty-five 
counties to which this writ was sent.] 1 

13. Writ Summoning Representatives of Seven Bor- 

oughs. 1235. (Latin text in Close Rolls, 1234- 
5 1237, p. 161. Translation by the editor.) 

The king to his bailiffs of the port of Dover, 
greeting. We command you, firmly enjoining that 
you cause twelve of the better men of your town 
to come before us at Dover on the Sunday next 
10 after the coming feast of the Purification of the 
Blessed Mary, for the purpose of speaking with us 
concerning our affairs. Witness the king at West- 
minster, the twenty-fifth day of January. 

In the same way it was commanded the bailiffs 
is of the ports of Hythe, Sandwich, and Hastings con- 
cerning the sending of six there ; Romney, Rye, and 
Winchelsea concerning eighteen. 2 

14. Writ Summoning Two Knights of the Shire. 

1254. (Latin text in Stubbs, Select Charters, 
20 ninth edition, pp. 365, 366. Translation by 

the editor.) 
Form sent to the magnates and sheriffs of England. 
The king to the sheriff of Bedford and Bucking- 

1 There were thirty - seven counties at this time. The names 
as omitted on the roll were Westmoreland and Cornwall; yet West- 
moreland was to have been represented at a meeting of eight counties 
called for this same business the year before. The omission of 
two names on the roll was probably due to a scribe's carelessness. 

2 It is not clear whether Hythe, Sandwich, and Hastings were to 
30 send six each or six together; and Romney, Rye, and Winchelsea 

eighteen each or eighteen together. 

93 



Antecedents of the House of Commons 

ham, greeting. Since the earls and barons and other 
magnates of our kingdom have steadfastly promised 
us that they will be at London three weeks from 
Easter next, prepared with horses and arms and well 
s equipped to proceed without delay to Portsmouth, 
for the purpose of crossing to us in Gascony to op- 
pose the king of Castile, who is to make a hostile 
incursion into our land of Gascony with a strong 
force during the coming summer; and since we have 

10 commanded you to constrain to the same purpose 
all those of your bailiwick who hold from us in chief 
land worth twenty pounds a year, or those who 
hold from others who are under age and in our 
custody; we strictly command you that, besides 

is all the aforesaid, you cause to come before our 
council at Westminster fifteen days after Easter 
next, four lawful and discreet knights from the said 
counties whom the said counties shall elect for this 
purpose, for all and singular of the said counties, 

20 that is, two from the one county and two from the 
other, so that, together with the knights of the other 
counties whom we have caused to be summoned for 
the same day, they may arrange what kind of aid 
they wish to furnish us in so great need. And you 

25 yourself are diligently to set forth to the knights 
and others of the said counties our necessity and 
our so urgent business, and you are effectively to in- 
duce them to furnish us an adequate aid at the 
present time; so that the aforesaid four knights 

99 



Source Problems in English History- 
can, at the time stated, answer definitely to our said 
council about the said aid for each of the said 
counties. Moreover, we straitly command you that 
all the previous debts in your bailiwick which ought 

s to have been paid us at our exchequer before the 
present Easter, as well as those which are owing 
us at this Easter exchequer, you are to have at the 
exchequer fifteen days after said Easter; and you 
are to know that unless you have the said debts 

io there at that time, we shall not only cause your 
body to be seized, but we shall have those debts 
levied from your lands and holdings to your no small 
damage. Witness Alienor Queen and Richard Earl 
of Cornwall, at Windsor, the eleventh day of Feb- 

15 ruary. 

15. Writ Summoning Three Knights of the Shire. 
1 26 1. (Latin text in Stubbs, Select Charters, 
ninth edition, pp. 394, 395. Translation by 
the editor.) 

20 The king to the sheriff of Norfolk and Suffolk, 
greeting. Inasmuch as on the authority of the bis- 
hop of Worcester, the earls of Leicester and Glou- 
cester, and certain other magnates of our kingdom, 
three knights from each of our counties have been 

25 summoned to be before them at St. Albans at the 
coming feast of St. Matthew the Apostle, to treat 
with them concerning the common interests of our 
kingdom; and since we and our aforesaid magnates 
should meet the same day at Windsor to treat of 



Antecedents of the House of Commons 

peace between us and them; we command you that, 
on our behalf, you firmly enjoin upon those knights 
of your bailiwick, who have been called before them 
for the aforesaid day, that, every excuse set aside, 

s they come to us at Windsor on that day; and you 
are also strictly to forbid them to go anywhere on 
that day except to us; indeed, you are to use every 
means to make them come before us at that time, 
to have a conference with us on the said matters; 

io so that, as a result of this occasion, they may. see 
and understand that we are not proposing to under- 
take anything except what we know will redound 
to the honor and commonweal of our kingdom. 
Witness the king at Windsor, the eleventh day of 

is September. 

16. Writ Summoning Four Knights of the Shire. 
1264. (Latin text in Stubbs, Select Charters, 
ninth edition, pp. 399, 400. Translation by 
the editor.) 

20 The king to Adam of Newmarket, greeting. . . . 
And because in our coming parliament it is fitting 
and necessary to discuss our affairs and the affairs 
of our kingdom with the prelates, magnates, and 
others of our faithful, we command you to send to 

as us for that whole county [Lincoln] four of the more 
lawful and discreet knights of said county, chosen 
with the county's assent; so that they be with us 
at London on the octave of the coming feast of the 
Holy Trinity at the latest, to treat with us of the 

101 



Source Problems in English History 

aforesaid matters; . . . Witness the king at St. 
Paul's, London, the fourth day of June. 

[Twenty-eight other counties are named on the roll 
as receiving similar writs.] 

s 17. Writs Relating to the Assembly of January, 1265. 

(Latin text in Report on the Dignity of a Peer, 

Appendix I, part i, pp. 33-35. Translation 

by the editor.) 

a. Henry, by the grace of God, king of England, 

10 lord of Ireland, and duke of Aquitaine, to Robert 
the venerable father in Christ, by the same grace 
bishop of Durham, greeting. Since, after the grave 
crises of the recent disturbances in our kingdom, 
our dearest son Edward, our first born, has remained 

is a hostage for securing and establishing our king- 
dom's peace, and since, God be praised, these dis- 
turbances have now been allayed and it behooves 
us to take counsel looking to his happy liberation, 
the full establishment of the conditions of peace and 

20 quiet, to God's honor and our whole kingdom's 
welfare, and certain other business of our kingdom, 
all of which we are unwilling to undertake without 
your advice and that of our other prelates and mag- 
nates ; we notify you, making request on the grounds 

25 of the faith and love by which you are bound to us 
that, setting aside every excuse and leaving all 
other business, you be with us at London on the 
octave of St. Hilary 1 next to treat with us of these 

1 The feast of St. Hilary was January 13. 



Antecedents of the House of Commons 

affairs and to furnish your counsel, along with our 
said prelates and magnates whom we have caused 
to be summoned to the same place. And this you 
are in no wise to neglect, as you love us and our honor 

s and yours and the general peace of our kingdom. 
Witness the king at Worcester, the fourteenth day 
of December. 

["The same writ was addressed to the Archbishop 
of York, the Bishop of Carlisle, the Dean of York, 

io ten abbots and nine priors of the northern province, 
and to ten bishops and four deans of the southern. 
A similar one was issued at Woodstock on the 24th 
of December, to fifty-five abbots, twenty-six priors, 
the Master of the Temple, and the Prior of the Hos- 

is pitalers; also to five earls and eighteen barons."] * 

Also notification was sent to the several sheriffs 

throughout England that they cause two knights of 

the more lawful, upright, and discreet knights of 

the several counties to come to the king at London 

30 on the said octave according to the above form. 

And in the above form it is written to the citizens 

of York, the citizens of Lincoln, and to the other 

boroughs of England that they send in the said way 

two of the more discreet, lawful, and upright of their 

25 citizens or burgesses. 

And in the same form notification was sent to the 

1 This is Stubbs's summary, Select Charters, p. 403. On the 26th 
of December a similar summons was sent to the bishop of Norwich, 
Report on the Dignity of a Peer, App. I, pt. i, p. 35. 

J03 



Source Problems in English History 

barons and good men of the Cinque Ports as is con- 
tained in the writ enrolled below. 

b. The king to his barons and bailiffs of his port 
of Sandwich, greeting. Since we have caused to be 

5 summoned the prelates, magnates, and nobles of our 
kingdom to our approaching parliament which will 
be at London on the octave of St. Hilary, to consider 
the business of freeing our eldest son Edward and 
other matters touching the commonweal of our king- 

io dom — where we greatly need your presence as well 
as that of our other faithful — we command you in 
the faith and love by which you are bound to us, 
strictly enjoining that, setting aside all other things, 
you send to us there four of the more lawful and dis- 

15 creet of your port, so that they be there on the afore- 
said octave to treat with us and the said magnates 
of our kingdom, and to furnish counsel upon the 
matters stated. And see that you in no wise fail 
to do this as you love our honor and yours and the 

20 commonweal of our kingdom. Witness the king at 
Westminster, the twentieth day of January. 

Similar notification was sent to the several ports 
individually. 

c. The king to the sheriff of Yorkshire, greeting. 
as Inasmuch as we have recently had summoned two 

of the more discreet knights of our several counties 
of England to be with us in our parliament at Lon- 
don on the octave of St. Hilary last past, to discuss 
with us and with our council about the deliverance 

104 



Antecedents of the House of Commons 

of our dearest son Edward and obtaining security 
for it and also about other difficult business of our 
realm, and these same knights made a longer stay 
there than they had expected and hence were sub- 

5 jected to no small expense; and since the communi- 
ties of the said counties have several times during 
this year made grants for the defense of our king- 
dom and especially for guarding the coast against 
the incursion of foreigners, as a result of which they 

ro feel themselves somewhat too heavily burdened; 
we therefore command you that you pay to the 
two knights who attended the above-mentioned 
parliament for the said county their reasonable ex- 
penses (on the advice of four lawful knights of the 

is same county) in coming to said parliament, remain- 
ing there, and returning home thence, and that you 
levy these expenses on the said community, it being 
provided because of this grant that this community 
shall not in any way be further burdened. Witness 

20 the king, at Westminster, the fifteenth day of Feb- 
ruary. 

d. The king to the sheriff of Shropshire and Staf- 
fordshire, greeting. Inasmuch as we have recently 
had summoned the prelates, magnates, and nobles of 

as our kingdom to be with us at London fifteen days 
after the feast of St. Hilary last past, in the matter 
of the liberation of our eldest son Edward and ob- 
taining security for it and for other matters touching 
the community of our kingdom and to treat with us 

105 



Source Problems in English History 

of the same, and we commanded you, as we did our 
other sheriffs throughout England, that you cause 
to come to us from each of the said counties for the 
said day and place two of the more discreet and law- 

5 ful knights of the same counties, to treat with us 
and the said magnates on behalf of the community 
of those counties concerning the matters mentioned 
above and to furnish their advice; and since from 
the said districts no knights came there at our com- 

io mand, at which we are greatly surprised and moved, 
we command you a second time strictly enjoining 
that you cause the said knights to come to us, so 
that by all means they be with us fifteen days after 
the feast of St. Peter in Cathedra, 1 wherever we may 

is then be in England, to speak with us and with the 
magnates who are of our council about the afore- 
said matters. And you are so to conduct yourself 
in executing our command that we shall be under 
no necessity of dealing with you for your short- 

20 coming. Witness the king at Westminster, the 
23 rd of February. 

1 This feast was February 22. 



PROBLEM IV 

IV. — An Aspect of the Agricultural Labor 
Problem in the Fourteenth Century 



An Aspect of the Agricultural Labor 
Problem in the Fourteenth Century 

I. THE HISTORICAL SETTING OF THE PROBLEM 

BELOW knight and freeholder was the villein, the 
typical member of the English peasant class. In 
the half or three-quarters of a century following the Nor- 
man Conquest, and largely as a result of it, rightlessness 
of the thoroughgoing personal sort and most of the forms 
of household slavery came to an end. But predial serf- 
dom remained. This means the serfdom related to land 
tenure. The villein was not free to leave his land, and 
his payments to the lord were from the land or in the 
form of service on the lord's demesne land. The free- 
holder made such payments also, but they were less bur- 
densome in his case, were more fixed in quantity and in 
time and manner of payment. The villein, notwith- 
standing the protection which accrued to him from the 
restraint of manorial custom and precedent, was always 
more or less at his lord's disposal. But the most striking 
trait of English villeinage and that which looked straight 
toward freedom was its relative character. The villein 
was free toward all but his lord. And when the king, 
through his itinerant justices, his sheriffs, and his other 
means of local interference, began to touch the localities 
with his centralizing power and methods, and the great 

109 



Source Problems in English History 

system of king's courts began to grow, he was generally 
disposed to look at the villein on the free side. Here also 
the sworn inquest played no small part of its mighty rdle 
in the history of democracy. Villeins were placed on 
juries whenever the king sought information which they 
could best furnish; and, although they were not asso- 
ciated with those above them as the freeholder was asso- 
ciated with the knight, yet jury service often occasioned 
strange approximations of high and low, and it must be 
remembered that those great, complex grand juries of the 
hundred, which presented criminals, while not acting as 
a unit, did regularly contain knights or freeholders, and 
villeins. But the basic causes of the passing of villein- 
age must be sought in changing economic conditions. 
The central government's treatment of the villein was a 
contributory cause. 

The villeins were the chief element on the manor, and 
the manor was, after the Norman Conquest as for long 
before, the economic unit. Its grand foundational idea 
was that its lord owned the land, a liberal portion of which 
was his demesne cultivated directly for him, while the 
rest was held by tenants who paid for its use by working 
on the demesne and by making payments in money or 
kind. The manor was economically self-sufficient. Salt 
and iron were the only important things regularly ob- 
tained outside. The typical manor contained some free- 
holders, many villeins, whose tenure was normally the 
virgate of thirty acres, and often some more or less 
negligible remnants of ancient classes or sub-classes 
farther down in the economic and social scale. Money 
was not extensively used in rural England in the early 
Middle Ages. Some money transactions there were: the 
bailiffs sold some produce at the markets, and the manor's 
salt and iron were bought with money; the freeholders' 

iiq 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

rents were often paid wholly or partly in money, and 
even the villeins occasionally had money dealings with 
their lords. But the early medieval rule was land in 
exchange for labor, and labor (or the land's products) in 
exchange for land. As long as this held even approxi- 
mately, labor would not be migratory. A villein thought 
long before he left even a very hard lot, because his chances 
of finding another holding open to him — normally the 
only thing he could get for his labor — were slender. He 
did sometimes find safe harborage in the towns, and that 
with growing frequency during the twelfth and thirteenth 
centuries; and in this way the slowly increasing popula- 
tion, but slightly provided for by subdivided holdings and 
the cultivation of new lands, found vent. But in general 
the fugitive villein ran great chances of becoming a vaga- 
bond, often a criminal, and the medieval vagabond was 
subject to the worst suspicions and to harsh treatment. 
So villeins lived generation after generation on the same 
bit of land, in the same poor dwelling, fulfilling the cus- 
tom of the manor in rent and "works," 1 custom that had 
formed and hardened through infinitesimal accretions 
from a forgotten past until, in endless stagnation and in- 
breeding, it had reached a local, self-important pettiness 
and deadness to new influences that are beyond belief. 

The chief agent in wrenching the manor from its past, 
and in mobilizing its elements, was money as a medium 
of exchange, the advent of the money economy; and this 
advent, like so many other things new and wonderful in 
the Middle Ages, is largely to be identified with the thir- 
teenth century. The long peace since the Norman Con- 
quest and the closer relations with France and Flanders 
had done their work in building up trade and industry. 

1 A "work" is usually understood to mean that portion of the cus- 
tomary labor owed by the tenant which was rendered in a single day. 

in 



Source Problems in English History 

Trade and industry brought money to the ports and the 
larger inland towns; and from these it passed down rather 
promptly into the manorial relations. Indeed, it is now 
recognized that past writers have assumed a greater dif- 
ference between urban and rural communities in the 
matter of a money economy than really existed. 1 As soon 
as lords and villeins could, on any considerable scale, 
market their surplus produce for cash, there was intro- 
duced a factor into the rural economy which worked in 
several reciprocal directions. The lord began to have a 
supply of money with which he could hire labor, assuming 
there was labor to be hired; that is, assuming a free and 
floating laboring class; and this same source of cash made 
it possible for thrifty villeins to buy themselves free and 
create such a class. Also the villeins, whether or not on 
the road to manumission, increasingly "bought their 
works," 2 and thereby augmented at once the lord's need 
of labor and his means of hiring it. And besides transient 
labor, often before there was much of it, many manors 
had several permanent hired laborers (ploughmen and 
carters, for instance) who might, indeed, be serfs as well 
as freemen. 3 But, speaking broadly, hired labor meant 

1 Some significant conclusions on this and related matters have 
been reached by H. L. Gray in The Commutation of Villein Sendees 
in England before the Black Death. English Historical Review, XXIX 
(i 91 4), pp. 625-656. 

2 That is, commuted part or all of their customary labor services 
into a money payment. By doing this the villeins gained more 
time to work their own holdings profitably. Sometimes such com- 
mutations were at the lord's initiative and for a time increased the 
villeins' burden. Sickness or weather not seldom cut down the 
number of "works" which a villein rendered in a year, but neither 
sickness nor weather diminished the money payment which now 
represented those "works." 

3 In general, team-service ceased to be performed by the villein 
tenants before hand-service. 

112 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

free labor, and to change a labor rent into a money rent 
was to make labor free. The leaven was working in the 
English peasantry and perfectly natural processes were 
inaugurating the next great change. The Norman Con- 
quest set in operation forces which ended slavery. These 
later causes undermined the characteristic villeinage of 
the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. In the fourteenth 
and fifteenth centuries a new state of society was brought 
forth and there were very serious new problems. 



II. INTRODUCTIONS TO THE SOURCES 

i. Cartularium Monasterii de Ramseia. 

This Cartulary of Ramsey Abbey was, as the word 
Cartulary indicates, the record-book of the abbey. It 
"contains charters, inquisitions, manorial extents, 1 sur- 
veys of knights' fees, final concords, pleas in royal courts, 
etc., a.d. 974-1436." The excerpt here printed is from 
the inquest made in 1252 concerning the abbey's manors 
of Upwood and Great Raveley. In this inquest the 
traditional manorial group of four men and the reeve 
was put on oath and made to tell all it knew of the 
abbey's lands and tenants in the manor. We read of 

1 Extent and inqtrisilion, in this connection, are different terms 
for the same thing. It was a sort of periodic taking account of 
stock on the part of the lord; detailed information was collected, 
usually by means of the sworn inquest, about tenants, tenures, ser- 
vices, and such sundry and incidental information as seemed im- 
portant or interesting. Generally the steward conducted the in- 
quest and drew up the information collected in formal shape. It 
was also customary to make an extent whenever the manor changed 
hands. It is to be distinguished from the less elaborate computus 
roll and custumal, the former being the bailiff's yearly financial state- 
ment to the lord, and the latter a record of the amount of land held 
by each tenant and the services. 

"3 



Source Problems in English History 

the manor's chapel, its vicar and his revenues, a detailed 
enumeration of the abbey's demesne in Upwood; a sum- 
mary of the lands outside the demesne; an account of the 
freeholders' tenures and services, followed by those of the 
regular virgate-holding villeins, of whom Nicholas (the 
description of whose services constitutes the present ex- 
cerpt) is the type and example; and, after the virgate- 
holders, the various lesser holders with their fractions of 
virgates and corresponding services. The noted Bene- 
dictine monastery of Ramsey and its extensive lands were 
located in the fen country of northern Huntingdonshire. 

2. The Extent of the Manor of Borley is a similar docu- 
ment for a much later date, based upon the sworn state- 
ments of the reeve and (in this case) five men of the manor. 
It is an unusually complete extent, and the excerpts here 
given show the services and obligations of the different 
classes or groups of tenants. Borley, at this time a royal 
manor, was located in Essex. 

3. Typical Lists of Manorial Services. 

It will readily be seen that these lists are not them- 
selves original documents. They are summaries made 
up by a recent writer, from bailiffs' accounts. But being 
largely lists of figures and accurately compiled, they may 
properly be used here as source material. Bailiffs' ac- 
counts (more technically known as compotus rolls) were 
usually rendered annually and contained a record of all 
the manorial receipts and expenditures, hence full in- 
formation on commuted "works" and hired labor; also 
a good many other data, such as the amount of land under 
tillage each year, who were the manor's officials, the regu- 
lar hired laborers, etc. These accounts were rendered 
to the steward, who must see that the interests of the 
lord were safeguarded. The manors whose accounts are 
here summarized were all in the county of Hertford, 

114 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

4 and 5. Henry Knighton, whose chronicle gives an 
important account of the Black Death, 1 was a canon of 
St. Mary's Abbey in Leicestershire. The chronicle covers 
from 959 to 1366. To 1336 it is largely derived from other 
chronicles. From that point it is approximately con- 
temporaneous and probably original; for the years 1348 
and 1349, J. R. Lumby (the editor of the Rolls Series 
edition) remarks that "Knighton is largely an independ- 
ent authority." 

The king's writ in behalf of John de Paddebury is a 
typical bit of evidence on the severity of the Plague from 
a public document. 

6 and 7. The Ordinance of Laborers — the product, as 
its name indicates, of king and council — was an emer- 
gency proclamation issued between parliaments. In this 
reign, notable for almost annual sessions, the frightful 

1 It should be kept in mind that the Black Death, while worse 
than other plagues, was no isolated visitation. "Pestilence had 
appeared in 131 5, 1316, and 1340, and dearth had ruled from 1308 
to 1322, with the sole exceptions of the years 1311-13 and 1318-20. 
But the horrors of these times were thrown into the background by 
the Black Death, which in 1348 and 1349 devastated the country 
and left only about half the population living. A new outbreak of 
plague came in 1361-62, and the male sex and the upper classes more 
especially were swept off by it, though, the population being so much 
smaller, the absolute number of deaths was less. With it came a 
terrible cattle-plague, and the same was the case with the third 
outbreak, which lasted from 1368 to 1369. New epidemics raged in 
1370 and 1381-82, again accompanied by dearth and cattle-plague; 
and these were followed by yet others in the last decade of the 
fourteenth century and throughout the fifteenth." — Hasbach, A 
History of the English Agricultural Laborer, pp. 20-21. 

The population of England was not far from two millions at the 
Conquest. It had increased very considerably by the beginning of 
Edward III.'s reign; but the Black Death and other epidemics and 
the wars so far cut it down that even at the Tudor accession in 1485 
it was scarcely two and a half millions. 

H5 



Source Problems in English History- 
calamity of the Black Death sufficed to cause an interval 
during 1349 and 1350. A parliament summoned for 
January of the former year was prorogued to April, and 
then prorogued sine die, it being impossible, under the 
circumstances, to assemble and transact business. The 
first parliament after the plague met February 9, 1351, 
and took up the same labor problem with which the 
Ordinance had dealt, but after an interval which may well 
have served to bring out features which could not have 
been taken into account earlier. The result was the 
Statute of Laborers. These two great labor laws were 
looked upon as substantially co-ordinate and of equal 
legal sanction in all the attempts to enforce them through- 
out the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. 

Such legislation was not new in kind; the economic 
thought of the Middle Ages was to attempt to fix wages 
or prices by law whenever conditions appeared to de- 
mand it. The new things here were the unwonted scale 
upon which the attempt was made and the character of 
the enacting body. In our modern age, when the prin- 
ciples of laissez faire seem outworn and discussions about 
wage laws and regulation of the cost of living fill the air, 
it should be a matter of no slight interest to study this 
early economic legislation of England and the measures 
adopted to enforce it. 1 

8 and 9. Writ Appointing Justices of Laborers and Pro- 
ceedings before the Justices of Laborers. 

The Ordinance and later the Statute of Laborers created 

1 On this legislation of Edward III.'s reign was built the labor 
statute of Richard II. (1388), which has recently been spoken of as 
"perhaps the most important of all the enactments relating to 
laborers between the Black Death and the reign of Elizabeth," and 
"the basis of all subsequent Vagrancy and Poor Law legislation." — 
Bland, English Economic History: Select Documents, p. 171, note 3. 

116 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

an additional, and in some ways new, administrative 
problem. To enforce laws so detailed and touching such 
a numerous class was a great task. Various rather futile 
experiments were tried after the Ordinance, but when 
the Statute was made it was necessary to attack the prob- 
lem more seriously, and recourse was had to the Justice 
of the Peace, already earning his name of "state's man- 
of -all-work." For something over a year, that is, until 
about the end of 1352, joint commissions for peace and 
for laborers were issued. These did not seem to work 
well; perhaps no method could have been devised that 
would. But there was complaint in parliament and a 
demand for new and different commissions with greater 
powers. This resulted in a seven-year experiment in 
issuing separate commissions to the so-called "justices 
of laborers," whose special function was to enforce the 
labor ordinance and statute, and who might or might not 
be in the commission of the peace. It was "a period of 
tentative attempts at regulation of economic matters by 
special commissions." * The present appointing writ 
constitutes one of these commissions. After 1359 there 
was a reversion, for reasons not altogether clear, to the 
preceding method. Doubtless it was felt that there was 
too much duplication of local machinery, and the senti- 
ment of the period looked toward the greatest possible 
unity in county administration. 

However, that the experiment with justices of laborers 
was by no means a failure and that it had some aspects 
significant beyond its own time are shown in the many 
extant records of proceedings. The last group of docu- 
ments in this problem contains examples of these pro- 

1 This and the substance of the other statements here are derived 
from Miss Putnam's The Justices of Laborers in the Fourteenth Cen- 
tury. English Historical Review, XXI, 517-538. 

117 



Source Problems in English History 

ceedings and conveys some notion of the seriousness and 
thoroughness with which the government addressed it- 
self to the enforcement of its first great labor laws. 



III. QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY 

i. From the thirteenth-century manorial "extent," make a 
list of the villein's definite yearly obligations to his lord 
grouped under three heads : a, payments in kind; b, money 
payments; c, labor services. What ones are stated in- 
definitely as to the amount or time? Consider these latter 
with respect to the villein's profitable cultivation of his 
own holding. What evidence is there that "works" were 
ever reckoned in terms of money or kind? What indica- 
tion of cummutation of works? What evidence of ser- 
vility aside from the services? 

2. Compare the early fourteenth-century villein's services with 

those of the thirteenth along the lines just suggested. 

3. What is meant by "week-works"? What other general 

class of "works" do you find? In what months of the 
year were the greatest number of "works" due? 

4. What evidence is there of the villein's ownership of farm 

implements or live stock? 

5. Were free tenants regularly distinguished from villeins by 

larger holdings? 

6. What class of laborers seems to have been first regularly 

hired on the manors? During the period here illustrated, 
was or was not the use of such laborers increasing? Fur- 
nish specific evidence to support your answer. 

7. How do you account for the kind of rent paid by the "mol- 

men"? 

8. What evidence is there throughout the period of a tendency 

to reckon produce or service in terms of money, even 
where there is no trace of commutation? Account for 
this. 

9. What indications of a subdivision of virgates and the exist- 

ence of smaller holdings? What was the probable cause? 
118 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

10. During what part of this period does commutation of ser- 
vices into money appear to have been going on most 
rapidly? What general class of "works" was commuted 
first? Why? How would you account for the fact that 
the sum of rendered and commuted services did not always 
equal the number due? 

ii. Effect of the Black Death upon: acres sown; commutation 
of service; total rents of customary tenants (including 
labor services); number of hired laborers; holdings "in 
the lord's hand"; money leases. 

12. Produce all the evidence possible to show how the pestilence 

affected the cost of living. Is there any indication that 
its initial effect differed from its more permanent effect? 

13. Enumerate in detail the classes or groups of men who 

sought to turn to their financial advantage the conditions 
produced by the pestilence. 

14. In what dilemma was the landlord often placed through the 

action of laborers after the pestilence? How did the king 
propose to deal with landlords who broke his labor or- 
dinance? 

15. Summarize the changes or developments which had been 

going on upon the manor which were accelerated by the 
pestilence. Were there any retarded? Any new ones 
inaugurated? 

16. What are the important differences between the Ordinance 

and Statute of Laborers? Did the Statute supersede 
the Ordinance or supplement it? Did the justices of 
laborers have any authority or function beyond the con- 
tent of the labor laws? Do any reasons suggest them- 
selves for the appointing of special justices to enforce these 
laws? 

17. What provision was made in these laws for determining a 

just wage and a just price? What was to be done if 
laborers refused to work? 

18. What hint is there in the statute or elsewhere of the ma- 

chinery which had been used to enforce the Ordinance? 
How successful had the enforcement been? 

19. What provision was made against artisans refraining from 

"9 



Source Problems in English History- 
exercising their crafts because of the limit set to the prices 
they might charge for their wares? 

20. Did or did not this legislation run counter to the economic 

forces of the time? Produce specific evidence to support 
your answer. 

21. In what respect are the traditional titles, Ordinance and 

Statute of Laborers, an insufficient index of the contents 
of the documents? 

22. What evidence is there that laborers, in seeking higher 

wages, were becoming migratory? What measure was 
taken against this? How do you account for the excep- 
tions made? How was day labor regarded? 
22,. What new method of hiring, labor seems to have been in- 
stituted by the Statute? What was its purpose? 

24. The Ordinance and Statute have often been looked upon as 

discriminatory legislation by the capitalist class against 
laborers. Collect all the data possible for or against this 
view. 

25. What punishments or penalties were placed at the discretion 

of the justices for those who broke the Statute? 

26. Does there seem to have been a vigorous attempt to enforce 

the labor laws? What difficulties were encountered? 
What form of trial was used? What impression do you 
get of the number prosecuted? Were the penalties which 
were being imposed adequately deterrent? How can the 
last point be proved beyond reasonable doubt? 

27. What evidence is there that laborers were being regarded 

more in their relation to society in general and less in 
relation to their individual lords? 

28. To just what extent is the statement that "the manor was 

breaking down" supported by the documents? 

29. As far as the present documents justify such a generaliza- 

tion, was or was not the Black Death a determining force 
or turning-point in English economic history? 

30. How would you summarize the changes through which the 

laboring class was passing during the period under re- 
view? Formulate what appear to you to have been the 
primary causes. 



IV. The Sources 

i. Cartulariutn Monaster ii de Ramseia: CCIX. 
1252. (From the Latin of the Rolls Series edi- 
tion, I, 344-347. Translation by the editor.) 

Nicholas, son of Hueman, holds one virgate of 
5 land, for which he gives, by way of customary pay- 
ment, twelve pence at the said times of year; 1 for 
the sheriff's aid at the same times six pence; and at 
the feast of St. Martin 2 a farthing for wardpenny; 
he gives tallage, merchet, lairwite, gersum, heriot, 
10 and hidage 3 when it occurs; for pannage for a swine 
of more than a year, two pence ; for a swine of half 
a year, a penny and a half; for a swine of three 
months, a penny. 

If he have ten swine, he shall choose the first, and 
is the lord the second swine, and so for each swine 
beyond the ten he shall give as before; and so con- 
cerning his own. 

1 The feast of St. Michael (Sept. 29) and Easter. 

2 November 1 1 . 

20 3 The student may find these and other unusual terms allowed to 
stand in the text in the more extensive dictionaries. It has seemed 
best not to try circumlocutory translations in such cases. 

121 



Source Problems in English History 

If there shall not be a supply of mast, he shall give 
to the bailiff for his swine according to what can be 
arranged between them. 

But if there be a supply of mast, he may keep his 

5 swine at home, yet for each one he shall give pan- 
nage as stipulated above. 

Also he is to give a cock at Christmas; at Easter, 
five eggs; and two pence in Lent as fishsilver; he 
shall be quit of these for a work and a half when his 

io turn comes; at view of frankpledge, a penny and a 
half; and at the feast of St. Benedict, 1 a half penny 
for wethersilver. 

At Christmas four bushels of oats as "fodder- 
corn." He shall make a measure and a half of malt, 

is which he shall take at his house, well cleansed; and 
he shall carry it to Ramsey; and for any deficiency, 
if such be found in it, he shall satisfy the maltster 
from his own. And these shall be credited him for 
the works of three days. 

ao In each week from the feast of St. Michael to hoe- 
ing-time he shall work three days at whatever work 
shall be assigned him; and on the fourth day he 
shall plough twenty perches, whether he work with 
another or not. 

as Also he shall thresh twenty-four sheaves of wheat, 
and twenty-four of rye; of barley, oats, beans, and 
pease, thirty bundles for a work. 

1 March 21. 

132 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

If he is to ditch, let him do it, in level ground, for 
a rod, and the depth three feet; and the width at 
the top five feet and at the bottom two feet. 

In old ditches he shall do for one work two rods 
s of the same depth and width; from the feast of St. 
Michael until hockday 1 he shall gather four fagots 
of thorn and carry them to the court; and after 
hockday he shall gather five, and carry them in the 
same way; and as often as he gathers wood in a 

io swamp or forest, he shall carry four fagots to a place 
near by where a court cart is likely to meet him; 
and when he has carried the fagots to the court, he 
shall make up two fagots which he shall sort well; 
and as for wood, so he shall do in gathering stakes 

15 to be used for making fences in the fields. 

He shall gather five fagots in Raveley wood, and 
in the woods of Uppenhale and Bottenhale six 
fagots, which he shall carry on his back to the places 
which need fencing, and he shall fence a distance 

io of thirty-four feet for a work. In winter he shall 
harrow from morning till evening for a work, and 
in Lent until sunset. At wheat -seeding he shall 
plough, for his virgate, twenty perches himself 
alone without co-worker; and at barley-seeding, as 

25 his plough is joined with others, he shall plough and 
harrow twenty perches, and so he and his co-workers 
shall be quit of the ploughing of those twenty perches. 

1 The second Tuesday after Easter. 
9 123 



Source Problems in English History 

The reeve, the beadle, the forester, and the four 
ploughmen shall do this same ploughing at barley- 
seeding; but they shall not harrow. 

He shall perform cart services as often as he shall 
s be summoned. 

And if, because the time is rainy or for any other 
reason unsuitable, any of the plough services are 
not performed, he shall fulfil those omitted plough 
services at another time, when it is commanded 
io him. He shall hoe for a whole day; and he shall 
reap until the ninth hour; and on the day in which 
he reaps, after the ninth hour, he shall gather in 
hay, if it be necessary. 

Also in gathering in hay he shall work the whole 

15 day; and he shall cut the half -acre of meadow 

called Benemede; and he and his fellow-laborers 

shall have eight pence; and this shall not be credited 

him as a work. 

From the meadow of Northwood, he, with his 
20 helper, shall carry four loads of hay to the court; 
and from the other nearer meadows he shall carry for 
one work. 

And he, in connection with another virgate- 
holder, shall bring one load of hay to Ramsey; and 
25 with two associates he shall bring a second load. 

Also he shall gather forty bundles of broom in 
the swamp, which he shall carry to the court in his 
cart; and if the depth of the swamp makes it im- 
possible for the cart to enter, he shall have the use, 

124 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

without pay, of the abbot's boat to bring the said 
bundles to land. 

He shall perform carrying service whenever and 
wherever ordered; and if he return on the first day 

5 it shall not be reckoned him as a work; but for the 
time consumed in going and coming beyond the first 
day he shall be quit of all work. 

In each week, from reaping-time until the grain is 
garnered, he shall work with two men every day of 

io the week except Thursday and Saturday; and after 
the grain has been gathered into the granary he shall 
work with one man at whatever shall be commanded 
him those same days in each week until the Nativity 
of the Blessed Mary; 1 and as many harvest days 

is as, on account of the maturity of the grain, he ful- 
filled before the Gule of August, 2 so many days shall 
be credited him before the Nativity of the Blessed 
Mary; and from the Nativity of the Blessed Mary 
to the feast of St. Michael, he shall work four days 

20 a week with one man, as he did in hoeing-time; but 
he shall not plough. 

In each week while harvest lasts, whenever it shall 
be commanded him, he shall carry five loads of 
grain to the storehouse; yet he shall find one man 

25 to work in the fields. 

And to all the harvest services, he himself or his 
wife with their whole family shall come to work; 

1 September 8. z August i. 

"5 



Source Problems in English History 

and at the first service he shall have a sufficient 
amount of bread, ale, fresh meat, pot-herbs, and 
cheese ; and at the other services he shall have fish ; 
and if bread is bought they shall have two loaves 
s at the price of three farthings. 

He shall reap half an acre of grain, which is called 

good work; in one harvest week, he shall bind and 

carry home on Thursday or Saturday; and on the 

same day he shall carry one load elsewhere, which 

io shall not be credited him as a work. 

And if, in one week, he performs services on Mon- 
day, Tuesday, and Wednesday, in some other week 
he shall perform services on Thursday, on which 
day he owes his lord no work, 
is On the three Thursdays before Christmas, Easter, 
and the feast of St. Benedict he shall do whatever 
work may be assigned him. 

He may not sell horse, cock, nor ox without the 
bailiff's permission, until he know whether or not 
20 it should be for the lord's use. 

He shall gather a quarter of a bushel of nuts in 
the woods wherever it be commanded him. 

On St. Michael's day before breakfast, he may sell 
as many of his swine as he can to whomsoever he 
25 will, without the bailiff's permission; but not after 
breakfast. 

In regard to making hurdles and pens and stand- 
ing guard at the time of St. Ive's fair he shall do the 
same as a virgate-holder of Wistow. 

126 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

And if he be sick continuously for a year and a 
day, he shall be quit of all work except ploughing, 
and after a year not at all. 

If his wife survive him, she shall give five shillings 
s as heriot; and she shall be quit of all work for 
thirty days ; but if the lord will, she may compound 
for her works, which shall be estimated. If he, or 
his wife, or any other in the house die, as long as 
the body remains unburied, no work shall be re- 
io quired except ploughing. 

On the day he marries he shall, according to his 
ability, honorably remember the court servants 
with bread, ale, flesh or fish. 

2. Extent of the Manor of Borley. 1308. (Latin 
is text in Cunningham, Growth of English Industry 

and Commerce, third edition, I, Appendix, 
pp. 576-584. Translated by E. P. Cheyney 
in Annals of the American Academy, IV, 
279-291. x ) 

20 Free Tenants. — William, son of Ralph, a Knight, 
holds from the lord 18 acres, by paying thence, 
yearly, at Easter, iSd., and at the feast of St. 
Michael, iSd. 

Henry of Latheley holds from the lord 50 acres 

as of land, by paying thence, yearly, at Easter, 2id., 

1 There is an important introduction by Professor Cheyney, Ibid., 
pp. 275-278. 

127 



Source Problems in English History 

and at the feast of St. Michael, 2 id. And he is 
bound to attendance at the court. 

John of Lystone holds from the lord in Borley 
40 acres of land and 4 acres of meadow, by paying 
5 therefrom, yearly, at the feast of St. Michael, 6d. 
for all services. 

William Joy holds from the lord one messuage 

and 20 acres of land, and 2 acres of meadow, and 

a half -acre of pasture, by paying therefrom, yearly, 

10 at the feast of St. Michael, i2d. And he is bound 

to attendance at court. 

Hugh at Fen holds from the lord 6 acres of land, 

and a half -acre of meadow, and a rood of pasture, by 

paying thence, yearly, at the aforesaid two periods, 

15 25. gd. And he is bound to attendance at court. 

Reginald Crummelond holds from the lord 12 
acres of land, by paying thence annually 105. And 
he is bound to attendance at court. 

William le Yachter holds from the lord in the 

20 demesne and in service 2 acres of land, and a half- 

acre of meadow, by paying thence yearly at Easter 

and at the feast of St. Michael in equal portions, 

yd. And he is bound to attendance at court. 

Molmen. 1 — The tenants of the land of Simon of 

25 Aunsel, viz., John Aunsel holds 1 cottage and 1 

rood of land; Roger at Remete, 4 acres and 3 roods 

of land; Richard Gakoun, 2 acres of land; William 

1 " Men holding in villeinage, but paying money rent with light 
services. ' ' — Cunningham . 

128 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

Oslock, i acre of land; Augustus, the clerk, two 
acres and a half of land; Walter Morel, 3 acres 
of land; Dennis Rauf, 1 rood of meadow. And 
they pay thence, yearly, that is to say at Easter, 
5 gd., and at the feast of St. Michael, gd., and at the 
Purification, of Unthiel, 1 25. 2-3/4^., and at Christ- 
mas a hen of the price of 1-1/ 2d. And they will 
provide two men to reap for one bedrepe 2 in autumn 
at the will of the lord with the lord's food, as is 
10 explained below. The price of each service is 2d. 
And they are bound to attendance at court. 

Customary Tenants. — Walter Johan holds from the 
lord in villeinage one messuage and 10 acres of land, 

is by paying thence yearly at the festival of the Puri- 
fication of the Blessed Mary, of Unthiel, 45. 5-1 1 2d. ; 
and at Easter 20-1/ 2d.', and at the feast of St. 
Michael, 26-1/ '2d. ; and at the feast of Christmas, 
1 hen and a half, the hen being of the price of 

20 1-1/2J. And from the feast of St. Michael (Sep- 
tember 29) to the feast of St. Peter ad Vin- 
cula (August 1) in each week 3 works with one 
man without the food of the lord, the price of a 
work being 1/2^., three weeks being excepted, 

as that is to say, Christmas week, Easter week, and 
Whitsuntide, in which they will not work unless 
it is absolutely required by the necessity for bind- 

1 The meaning of this word is not known. 

2 Often written bedrip. 

129 



Source Problems in English History 

ing the grain in autumn and for carrying hay. 
And he shall plough with his plough, whether 
he has to join or not, 4 acres of the land of the 
lord without the food of the lord, the price of 

s each acre being 5-1 /4J., of which 2 acres are to be 
in the season for planting wheat and 2 for oats. And 
he shall carry the manure of the lord of the manor 
with his horse and cart at the food of the lord; 
that is, each day a loaf and a half of rye bread, of 

10 the size of 40 loaves to the quarter, and to weed 
the grain of the lord so long as there shall be any 
weeding to be done, and it shall be reckoned in his 
services. And he ought to mow the meadow of the 
lord; that is to say, 1 acre and the third part of an 

is acre, according to suitable measure. And it will be 

reckoned in his services, that is for each acre, 3 works. 

And it is to be known that whenever he, along with 

the other customary tenants of the vill, shall mow 

the meadow of Rainholm, they shall have, accord- 

20 ing to custom, 3 bushels of wheat for bread and 1 
ram of the price of iSd., and 1 jar of butter, and 1 
cheese next to the best from the dairy of the lord, 
and salt and oatmeal for their porridge, and all the 
morning milk from all the cows of the whole dairy 

as at that time. And he shall toss, carry, and pile 
the said acre and a half of hay, and shall carry it 
to the manor, and it will be reckoned in his works. 
And he shall have for each work of mowing as much 
of the green grass, when he shall have mowed it, 

130 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

as he shall be able to carry on the point of his scythe. 
And when he has carried the said hay he shall have, 
at the end of the said carrying, the body of the cart 
full of hay. ■ And he shall reap in autumn from 

s the feast of St. Peter ad Vincula (August i) to the 
feast of St. Michael (September 29) through the 
whole autumn, 24 works, without food from the 
lord, the price of one work being id. And he shall 
carry the grain of the lord and pile it, and it shall 

10 be accounted for in his works. And he shall have 
as often as he carries, one bundle called the men- 
sheaf; and he shall haul with his horse twelve 
leagues around the manor as much as the weight 
of 2 bushels of salt or of 3 bushels of wheat, of rye, 

is of peas, or of beans; and of oats, 4 bushels. And 
he ought to go for the said grain and bring it to the 
granary of the lord with the aforesaid horse and 
his own sack. And he shall have, as often as he 
hauls, as much oats as he is able to measure and 

20 carry in the palm of his hand three times. And if 
he shall not have carried he is not to give anything, 
but there will be appointed in the place of each 
carrying one work of the price of a half penny. 
And he shall give aid and must attend the court. 

as And he shall give merchet on the marriage of his 
daughter, at the will of the lord. 

[There follow here the entries of twenty-seven other 
villeins' rents and services, most of which, according 

131 



Source Problems in English History 

to the size of the holdings, resemble closely Walter 
Johan's; jour cotemen with their minor holdings and 
services appear next; and the extent concludes with 
grand summaries and totals of the manor's annual 
value, in which the "works" are evaluated on a money 
basis.] 

3. Typical Lists of Manorial Services. (Translated 
from summaries in T. W. Page, Die Umwand- 
lung der Frohndienste in Geldrenten, pp. 48-51.) 

Ashwell. In the year 1347, 260 acres were sown. 
The villeins performed 68 works in hoeing, 68 at 
hay-harvest. Everything else was done by hired 
labor. About 300 works in harvest were commuted. 
. . . In 135 1, 143 acres were sown, and about the 
same service rendered or sold as before. . . . 

Meesden. In 1347, 219 acres were sown. There 
were 14 villeins, each of whom owed, during the 
winter, one work per week. Of the week-works, 
about 200 were performed and 300 commuted. 
Besides these, they furnished 30 works in hoeing, 
and harvested 12 acres of hay and 190 acres of 
grain. Four ploughmen were hired, and 14s. were 
paid for hired labor at threshing and 45. at hoeing, 
and the hay of 8 acres was harvested by hired labor. 
. . . In 1350, only 187 acres were sown, "less on 
account of the pestilence and the small amount of 
help." The villeins furnished in winter about the 
same amount of service as before, but harvested 
only about 90 acres in autumn. The pestilence 

132 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

caused the commutation of a few works into money 
payments. . . . Various holdings were "in the lord's 
hand," that is, they were without holders. The 
condition was the same in 1358, except that there 

5 was a little more service furnished than during the 
pestilence. 

Stevenage. In the year 1334, 325 acres were sown. 
Several herdsmen, four ploughmen, and one carter 
were hired. Each of the 14 virgates, "thecus- 

10 tomary land," was divided among several peasants. 
Each virgate owed, from Michaelmas to the middle 
of July, 5 works per week. There were also four 
cotters, each of whom performed 2 works per week, 
and besides were expected to harvest 5 acres of grain. 

is Counting the "boon-works," l the services at this 
time divide thus: 

DUE RENDERED COMMUTED 

Week-works in winter and summer. 19 13 700 800 

Cart services 280 250 21 

Plough services 168 104 6 

20 Harrow services 56 56 o 

Autumn works 686 575 o 

Service in carrying grain 28 27 o 

Twenty acres harvested by cotters. 

. . . In 1349, 6-1/4 virgates were without holders 

25 because of the pestilence; but the bailiff had 300 

acres sown. In the autumn he had to give 13 acres 

of standing grain as pay to hired workers; 16 acres 

1 Special works, not fixed in amount, character, or time of ren- 
dering. 

133 



Source Problems in English History 

were harvested by hired labor; and 10 acres of 
grain remained on the stalk through lack of laborers. 
Though labor was so much needed, yet money pay- 
ments had to be taken in commutation of 12 acres' 

5 ploughing, 4 acres' harrowing, 15 cart services, 193 
works in winter and 15 in harvest. In 1352, only 
219 acres were sown, for 7-1/2 virgates and the 
holdings of 3 cotters were in the lord's hand. There 
was commutation of 22 acres' ploughing, 12 acres' 

10 harrowing, 91 cart services, 440 winter works, and 
60 autumn works. In 1357, 9-1/2 virgates were 
vacant or let at a money rent; 245 acres of the 
demesne were sown. The same number of regular 
hired laborers was employed as before the pestilence, 

15 but in addition enough labor was hired by the day 
to supply about half the work on the demesne. In 
1360, there were 10 virgates leased for money and 
the same number in 1362, when 10 d. per acre had 
to be paid for harvesting, "through scarcity of men 

20 caused by the pestilence." In 1373, 11 virgates and 
3 cotters' holdings were leased; 196 acres were 
sown. At this time the remaining customary ser- 
vice divides thus: 

RENDERED COMMUTED 

Week-works in winter and summer 256 75 

25 Cart services 39 16 

Plough services 30 o 

Harrow services 15 o 

Autumn works no o 

Five acres harvested by cotters. 

134 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

In 1377, 12 virgates and 3 cotters' holdings were 
leased; and in 1386, when 230 acres were sown, all 
the peasant holdings were leased. On this manor 
there is no further trace of customary service, 
s Standon. In 1343, 240 acres were sown, and a 
carter and 4 ploughmen were hired. Two virgates 
owed 3 works per week in winter, 3 eight-acre hold- 
ings owed 2 per week, and 2 cotters' holdings owed 
1. But one eight -acre holding was leased, and 

10 rendered no more service. The services were dis- 
tributed thus: 96 works in threshing, 31 in hay 
harvest, 10 in repairing buildings, 67 commuted; 
the villeins owed 67 in making malt, of which 19 
were rendered; they were to plough 32-1/2 acres, 

15 but ploughed only 3 ; 6 acres were to be harrowed, 
but not any of this work was rendered; they owed 
107 works in hoeing, and rendered 62; 88 in hay 
harvest, and rendered 86; 260 in corn harvest, and 
rendered 210; and, besides, a few " boon-works." 

20 Thus the manor remained till 1348. After the 
pestilence, the holdings came bit by bit into the 
lord's hands. In 1362, only 58 customary works 
were rendered, and in 1376 the manor was leased. 
4. Chronicon Henrici Knighton. 1349. (From the 

25 Latin of the Rolls Series edition, II, 61-65. 

Translation by W. J. Ashley in Edward III. 
and his Wars, pp. 122-127.) 
Then the grievous plague penetrated the sea- 
coasts from Southampton, and came to Bristol, and 

135 



Source Problems in English History 

there almost the whole strength of the town died, 
struck as it were by sudden death; for there were 
few who kept their beds more than three days, or 
two days, or half a day ; and after this the fell death 

s broke forth on every side with the course of the 
sun. There died at Leicester in the small parish 
of St. Leonard more than 380; in the parish of Holy 
Cross more than 400; in the parish of St. Margaret 
of Leicester more than 700; and so in each parish 

to a great number. Then the bishop of Lincoln sent 
through the whole bishopric, and gave general power 
to the priests each and all, both regular and secular, 
to hear confessions, and absolve with full and entire 
episcopal authority except in matters of debt, in 

15 which case the dying man, if he could, should pay 
the debt while he lived, or others should certainly 
fulfil that duty from his property after his death. 
Likewise, the pope granted full remission of all sins to 
whoever was absolved in peril of death and granted 

20 that this power should last till next Easter, and ev- 
ery one could choose a confessor at his will. In the 
same year there was a great plague of sheep every- 
where in the realm, so that in one place there died 
in one pasturage more than 5000 sheep, and so 

as rotted that neither beast nor bird would touch them. 
And there were small prices for everything on ac- 
count of the fear of death, for there were few who 
cared about riches or anything else. For a man 
could have a horse, which before was worth 405., 

136 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

for 6s. &d., a fat ox for 45., a cow for i2d., a heifer 
for 6d., a fat wether for /\.d., a sheep for 3d., a lamb 
for 2d., a big pig for 5^., a stone of wool for gd. 
Sheep and cattle went wandering over fields and 
s through crops, and there was no one to go and drive 
or gather them, so that the number cannot be 
reckoned which perished in the ditches in every dis- 
trict, for lack of herdsmen; for there was such a 
lack of servants that no one knew what he ought 

10 to do; ... In the following autumn no one could 
get a reaper for less than Sd. with his food, a mower 
for less than 12J. with his food. Wherefore many 
crops perished in the fields for want of some one to 
gather them ; but in the pestilence year, as is above 

is said of other things, there was such abundance of 
all kinds of corn that no one much troubled about it. 

Master Thomas of Bradwardine was consecrated 
by the pope archbishop of Canterbury, and when 
he returned to England he came to London, but 

20 within two days was dead. He was famous beyond 
all other clerks in the whole of Christendom, es- 
pecially in theology, but likewise in the other liberal 
sciences. At the same time priests were in such 
poverty everywhere that many churches were 

as widowed and lacking the divine offices, masses, 
matins, vespers, sacraments, and other rites. A 
man could scarcely get a chaplain under £10 or 
10 marks to minister to a church. And when a man 

*37 



Source Problems in English History 

could get a chaplain for five or four marks or even 
for two marks with his food when there was an 
abundance of priests before the pestilence, there 
was scarcely any one now who was willing to accept 

s a vicarage for £20 or 20 marks; but within a short 
time a very great multitude of those whose wives 
had died in the pestilence flocked into orders, of 
whom many were illiterate and little more than lay- 
men, except so far as they knew how to read, although 

10 they could not understand. 

Cowhides were at the low price of 12J., a pair of 
shoes for iod, 12 d., or 14J., and a pair of boots for 
three or four shillings. Meanwhile the king sent 
proclamation into all the counties that reapers and 

15 other laborers should not take more than they had 
been accustomed to take, under the penalty ap- 
pointed by statute. But the laborers were so lifted 
up and obstinate that they would not listen to the 
king's command, but if any one wished to have them 

20 he had to give them what they wanted, and either 
lose his fruit and crops, or satisfy the lofty and 
covetous wishes of the workmen. And when it was 
known to the king that they had not observed his 
command, and had given greater wages to the 

as laborers, he levied heavy fines upon abbots, priors, 
knights, greater and lesser, and other great folk and 
small folk of the realm, of some 1005., of some 405., 
of some 205., from each according to what he could 
give. He took from each carucate of the realm 

138 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

20s., and, notwithstanding this, a fifteenth. And 
afterward the king had many laborers arrested, and 
sent them to prison ; many withdrew themselves and 
went into the forests and woods; and those who 

s were taken were heavily fined. Their ringleaders 
were made to swear that they would not take daily 
wages beyond the ancient custom, and then were 
freed from prison. And in like manner was done 
with the other craftsmen in the boroughs and vil- 

io lages. ... 

After the aforesaid pestilence, many buildings, 
great and small, fell into ruins in every city, bor- 
ough, and village for lack of inhabitants; likewise 
many small villages and hamlets became desolate, 

is not a house being left in them, all having died who 
dwelt there; and it was probable that many such 
villages would never be inhabited. Tn the winter 
following there was such a want of servants in work 
of all kinds, that one would scarcely believe that 

20 in times past there had been such a lack. The 
cattle and flocks which a man had wandered about 
everywhere without pasture, and everything which 
a man had was without care. And so all neces- 
saries became so much dearer that what in times 

as past had been worth a penny was then worth $d. 
or $d. 

Magnates and lesser lords of the realm who had 
tenants made abatements of the rent in order that 
the tenants should not go away on account of the 
io 139 



Source Problems in English History 

want of servants and the general dearness, some 
half the rent, some more, some less, some for two 
years, some for three, some for one year, according 
as they could agree with them. Likewise, those who 
5 received of their tenants day work throughout the 
year, as is the practice with villeins, had to give 
them more leisure, and remit such works, and either 
entirely to free them or give them an easier tenure 
at a small rent, so that homes should not be every- 

io where irrecoverably ruined, and the land every- 
where remain entirely uncultivated. And all victuals 
and necessities of every sort became very dear. 
5. Royal Writ in behalf of John de Paddebury. 1350. 
(Calendar of Patent Rolls, 1 348-1 350, p. 563.) 

15 Whereas the king lately leased to his yeoman 
John de Paddebury and to Henry de Solihull, now 
deceased, the fee of his seal for writs judicial in the 
Common Bench for ten years, at a farm to be ren- 
dered at the exchequer yearly; in consideration of 

20 the mortal pestilence of men which lately prevailed 
everywhere in England to such an extent that there 
was no concourse of men at the Bench as usual, 
whereby the fee amounted to very little, the king 
has pardoned to the same John both the farm from 

25 the time of the said grant to him and Henry down 
to the time when the seal passed into the hands of 
Anthony Bache, by the king's grant, and all arrears 
of such farm, and has pardoned him also those twenty 
marks which he received from Walter de Weston 

140 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

in the siege of the castle of Dunbarre, in Scotland, 
for 260 sheaves of arrows at York and Newcastle- 
upon-Tyne and the expenses of bringing the same 
to Dunbarre. 

s 6. Ordinance of Laborers. 1349. (Latin text and 
translation in Statutes of the Realm, I, 307, 
308.) 
The king to the sheriff of Kent, greeting. Be- 
cause a great part of the people, and especially of 

10 workmen and servants, late died of the pestilence, 
many seeing the necessity of masters, and great 
scarcity of servants, will not serve unless they may 
receive excessive wages, and some rather willing to 
beg in idleness, than by labor to get their living; 

is we, considering the grievous incommodities, which 
of the lack especially of ploughmen and such labor- 
ers may hereafter come, have upon deliberation and 
treaty with the prelates and the nobles, and learned 
men assisting us, of their mutual counsel ordained: 

20 That every man and woman of our realm of 
England, of what condition he be, free or bond, able 
in body, and within the age of threescore years, not 
living in merchandise, nor exercising any craft, nor 
having of his own whereof he may live, nor proper 

25 land, about whose tillage he may himself occupy, 
and not serving any other, if he in convenient ser- 
vice, his estate considered, be required to serve, he 
shall be bounden to serve him which so shall him 
require; and take only the wages, livery, meed, or 

141 



Source Problems in English History 

salary, which were accustomed to be given in the 
places where he oweth to serve, the twentieth year 
of our reign of England, or five or six other common 
years next before. Provided always, that the lords 

5 be preferred before other in their bondmen or their 
land tenants, so in their service to be retained; so 
that nevertheless the said lords shall retain no more 
than be necessary for them; and if any such man 
or woman, being so required to serve, will not the 

io same do, that proved by two true men before the 
sheriff or the constables of the town where the same 
shall happen to be done, he shall anon be taken by 
them or any of them, and committed to the next 
gaol, there to remain under strait keeping, till he 

is find surety to serve in the form aforesaid. 

Item, if any reaper, mower, or other workman or 
servant, of what estate or condition that he be, 
retained in any man's service, do depart from the 
said service without reasonable cause or license, 

20 before the term agreed, he shall have pain of im- 
prisonment. And that none under the same pain 
presume to receive or to retain any such in his ser- 
vice. 

Item, that no man pay, or promise to pay, any 

25 servant any more wages, liveries, meed, or salary 
than was wont, as afore is said; nor that any in 
other manner shall demand or receive the same, 
upon pain of doubling of that, that so shall be 
paid, promised, required, or received, to him which 

142 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

thereof shall feel himself grieved, pursuing 1 for the 
same; and if none such will pursue, then the same 
to be applied to any of the people that will pursue; 
and such pursuit shall be in the court of the lord 

s of the place where such case shall happen. 

Item, if the lords of the towns or manors presume 
in any point to come against this present ordinance 
either by them, or by their servants, then pursuit 
shall be made against them in the counties, wapen- 

io takes, tithings, or such other courts, for the treble 
pain paid or promised by them or their servants in 
the form aforesaid ; and if any before this present 
ordinance hath covenanted with any so to serve for 
more wages, he shall not be bound by reason of 

is the same covenant, to pay more than at any other 
time was wont to be paid to such person ; nor upon 
the said pain shall presume any more to pay. 

Item, that saddlers, skinners, white-tawers, cord- 
wainers, tailors, smiths, carpenters, masons, tilers, 

20 [shipwrights], carters, and all other artificers and 
workmen, 2 shall not take for their labor and work- 

1 In the sense of pursuing a remedy at law. 

2 This and other passages in both Ordinance and Statute show that 
there were many important classes of money-paid laborers besides 

25 the agricultural laborers— classes which were perfectly well known 
and taken for granted by the government. The space limits of this 
problem have prohibited the inclusion of documents to show the 
historical antecedents of these men. But the same money economy 
which fostered paid labor on the manors had been bringing forth 

30 in abundance the artisans and craftsmen of the towns. The vil- 
leins, mentioned above, who ran away to the towns had recruited 
this class. In connection with the present study, it is important to 

143 



Source Problems in English History 

manship above the same that was wont to be paid 
to such persons the said twentieth year, and other 
common years next before, as afore is said, in the 
place where they shall happen to work; and if any 
5 man take more, he shall be committed to the next 
gaol, in manner as afore is said. 

Item, that butchers, fishmongers, hostelers, brew- 
ers, bakers, putters, 1 and all other sellers of all man- 
ner of victual, shall be bound to sell the same victual 

io for a reasonable price, having respect to the price 
that such victual be sold at in the places adjoining, 
so that the same sellers have moderate gains, and 
not excessive, reasonably to be required according 
to the distance of the place from whence the said 

15 victuals be carried; and if any sell such victuals 
in any other manner, and thereof be convict in the 
manner and form aforesaid, he shall pay the double 
of the same that he so received, to the party dam- 
nified, or, in default of him, to any other that will 

20 pursue in this behalf : and the mayors . and bailiffs 
of cities, boroughs, merchant-towns, and others, and 
of the ports and places of the sea, shall have power 
to inquire of all and singular which shall in any 
thing offend the same, and to levy the said pain 

as to the use of them at whose suit such offenders shall 
be convict; and in case that the same mayors or 

distinguish between those who were not to sell their labor for more 
than the fixed sum, and those who were limited in what they might 
charge for the wares which their labor produced. 
30 l Poulterers. 

144 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

bailiffs be negligent in doing execution of the prem- 
ises, and thereof be convict before our justices, by us 
to be assigned, then the same mayors and bailiffs shall 
be compelled by the same justices to pay the treble 

5 of the thing so sold to the party damnified, or to any 
other in default of him that will pursue; and never- 
theless toward us they shall be grievously punished. 
Item, because that many valiant beggars, as long 
as they may live of begging, do refuse to labor, 

io giving themselves to idleness and vice, and sometime 
to theft and other abominations; none upon the 
said pain of imprisonment shall, under the color of 
pity or alms, give any thing to such, which may 
labor, or presume to favor them toward their de- 

15 sires, so that thereby they may be compelled to 
labor for their necessary living. 

We command you, firmly enjoining, that all and 
singular the premises in the cities, boroughs, market 
towns, seaports, and other places in your bailiwick, 

20 where you shall think expedient, as well within 
liberties as without, you do cause to be publicly 
proclaimed, and to be observed and duly put in 
execution as aforesaid; and this by no means omit, 
as you regard us and the common weal of our realm, 

as and would save yourself harmless. Witness the 
king at Westminster, the i8th day of June. By 
the king himself and the whole council. 

Like writs are directed to the sheriffs throughout 
England. 

i4S 



Source Problems in English History 

The king to the reverend father in Christ W. by 
the same grace bishop of Winchester, greeting. 
"Because a great part of the people," as before, 
until "for their necessary living," 1 and then thus: 

s And therefore we entreat you that the premises in 
every of the churches, and other places of your dio- 
cese, which you shall think expedient, you do cause 
to be published; directing the parsons, vicars, 
ministers of such churches, and others under you, 

io to exhort and invite their parishioners by salutary 
admonitions, to labor, and to observe the ordinances 
aforesaid, as the present necessity requireth: and 
that you do likewise moderate the stipendiary chap- 
lains of your said diocese, who, as it is said, do now 

is in like manner refuse to serve without an excessive 
salary; and compel them to serve for the accus- 
tomed salary, as it behooveth them, under the pain 
of suspension and interdict. And this by no means 
omit, as you regard us and the common weal of our 

20 said realm. Witness, etc., as above. By the king 
himself and the whole council. 

Like letters of request are directed to the several 
bishops of England, and to the keeper of the spirit- 
ualties of the archbishopric of Canterbury, during 

25 the vacancy of the see, under the same date. 

7. Statute of Laborers. 135 1. (French text and 
translation in Statutes of the Realm, I, 311- 
3i3-) 

1 The complete text of the Ordinance is thus indicated. 
146 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

Whereas late against the malice of servants, which 
were idle, and not willing to serve after the pestilence, 
without taking excessive wages, it was ordained by 
our lord the king, and by the assent of the prelates, 
s nobles, and other of his council, that such manner 
of servants, as well men as women, should be bound 
to serve, receiving salary and wages, accustomed 
in places where they ought to serve in the twentieth 
year of the reign of the king that now is, or five or 

io six years before; and that the same servants refus- 
ing to serve in such manner should be punished by 
imprisonment of their bodies, as in the said statute 
is more plainly contained: whereupon commissions 
were made to divers people in every county to in- 

is quire and punish all them which offend against the 
same : and now forasmuch as it is given the king to 
understand in this present parliament, by the petition 
of the commonalty, that the said servants having 
no regard to the said ordinance, but to their ease 

20 and singular covetise, do withdraw themselves to 
serve great men and other, unless they have livery 
and wages to the double or treble of that they were 
wont to take the said twentieth year, and before, 
to the great damage of the great men, and impover- 

35 ishing of all the said commonalty, whereof the said 
commonalty prayeth remedy: wherefore in the said 
parliament, by the assent of the said prelates, earls, 
barons, and other great men, and of the same com- 
monalty there assembled, to refrain the malice of 

1 47 



Source Problems in English History 

the said servants, be ordained and established the 
things underwritten: 

First, that carters, ploughmen, drivers of the 
plough, shepherds, swineherds, deies, 1 and all other 
s servants, shall take liveries and wages, accustomed 
the said twentieth year, or four years before; so 
that in the country where wheat was wont to be 
given, they shall take for the bushel ten pence, or 
wheat at the will of the giver, till it be otherwise 

io ordained. And that they be allowed to serve by 
a whole year, or by other usual terms, and not by 
the day; and that none pay in the time of sarcling 2 
or hay-making but a penny the day; and a mower 
of meadows for the acre five pence, or by the day 

is five pence; and reapers of corn in the first week of 
August two pence, and the second three pence, and 
so till the end of August, and less in the country 
where less was wont to be given, without meat or 
drink, or other courtesy to be demanded, given, or 

20 taken; and that such workmen bring openly in 
their hands to the merchant - towns their instru- 
ments, and there shall be hired in a common place 
and not privy. 

Item, that none take for the threshing of a quarter 

as of wheat or rye over 2d. ob. 3 and the quarter of bar- 
ley, beans, pease, and oats, id. ob. if so much were 
wont to be given; and in the country where it is 
used to reap by certain sheaves, and to thresh by 

1 Dairy-maids. 2 Hoeing. 3 Two and a half pence. 

148 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

certain bushels, they shall take no more nor in other 
manner than was wont the said twentieth year and 
before; and that the same servants be sworn two 
times in the year before lords, stewards, bailiffs, 
5 and constables of every town, to hold and do these 
ordinances; and that none of them go out of the 
town, where he dwelleth in the winter, to serve 
the summer, if he may serve in the same town, 
taking as before is said. Saving that the people of 

io the counties of Stafford, Lancaster and Derby, and 
people of Craven, and of the marches of Wales and 
Scotland, and other places, may come in time of 
August, and labor in other counties, and safely re- 
turn, as they were wont to do before this time: 

15 and that those, which refuse to take such oath or 
to perform that that they be sworn to, or have 
taken upon them, shall be put in the stocks by the 
said lords, stewards, bailiffs, and constables of the 
towns by three days or more, or sent to the next 

20 gaol, there to remain, till they will justify them- 
selves. And that stocks be made in every town for 
such 'Occasion betwixt this and the feast of Pente- 
cost. 

Item, that carpenters, masons, and tilers, and 

25 other workmen of houses, shall not take by the day 
for their work, but in manner as they were wont, 
that is to say: a master carpenter 3d. and another 
2d. ; a master free-stone mason 4<2. and other masons 
3d. and their servants id. ob.; tilers 3d. and their 

149 



Source Problems in English History 

knaves id. ob. ; and other coverers of fern and straw 
3 d. and their knaves id. ob.; plasterers and other 
workers of mudwalls, and their knaves, by the same 
manner, without meat or drink, is. from Easter to 
5 Saint Michael; and from that time less, according 
to the rate and discretion of the justices, which 
should be thereto assigned: and that they that 
make carriage by land or by water, shall take no 
more for such carriage to be made, than they were 

io wont the said twentieth year, and four years before. 

Item, that cordwainers and shoemakers shall not 

sell boots nor shoes, nor none other thing touching 

their mystery, in any other manner than they were 

wont the said twentieth year : item, that goldsmiths, 

15 saddlers, horsesmiths, spurriers, tanners, curriers, 
tawers of leather, tailors, and other workmen, ar- 
tificers, and laborers, and all other servants here not 
specified, shall be sworn before the justices, to do 
and use their crafts and offices in the manner they 

20 were wont to do the said twentieth year, and in 
time before, without refusing the same because of 
this ordinance; and if any of the said servants, 
laborers, workmen, or artificers, after such oath 
made, come against this ordinance, he shall be 

as punished by fine and ransom, and imprisonment 
after the discretion of the justices. 

Item, that the said stewards, bailiffs, and con- 
stables of the said towns, be sworn before the same 
justices, to inquire diligently by all the good ways 

ISO 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

they may, of all them that come against this ordi- 
nance, and to certify the same justices of their 
names at all times, when they shall come into the 
country to make their sessions; so that the same 
s justices on certificate of the same stewards, bailiffs, 
and constables, of the names of the rebels, shall do 
them to be attached by their body, to be before the 
said justices, to answer of such contempts, so that 
they make fine and ransom to the king, in case they 

io be attainted; and moreover to be commanded to 
prison, there to remain till they have found surety, 
to serve, and take, and do their work, and to sell 
things vendible in the manner aforesaid; and in 
case that any of them come against his oath, and 

is be thereof attainted, he shall have imprisonment of 
forty days; and if he be another time convict, he 
shall have imprisonment of a quarter of a year, so 
that at every time that he offendeth and is convict, he 
shall have double pain : and that the same justices, at 

ao every time that they come [into the country], shall 
inquire of the said stewards, bailiffs, and constables, 
if they have made a good and lawful certificate, or 
any conceal for gift, procurement, or affinity, and 
punish them by fine and ransom, if they be found 

»s guilty: and that the same justices have power to 
inquire and make due punishment of the said 
ministers, laborers, workmen, and other servants; 
and also of hostelers, harbergers, 1 and of those that 

1 Those who provide lodging. 
151 



Source Problems in English History 

sell victual by retail, or other things here not speci- 
fied, as well at the suit of the party, as by present- 
ment, and to hear and determine, and put the things 
in execution by the exigend after the first capias, 1 
s if need be, and to depute other under them, as many 
and such as they shall see best for the keeping of 
the same ordinance; and that they which will sue 
against such servants, workmen, laborers, [and ar- 
tificers], for excess taken of them, and they be 

io thereof attainted at their suit, they shall have 
again such excess. And in case that none will sue, 
to have again such excess, then it shall be levied 
of the said servants, laborers, workmen, and arti- 
ficers, and delivered to the collectors of the Quin- 

15 zime, 2 in alleviation of the towns where such excesses 
were taken. 3 

8. Writ Appointing Justices of Laborers. 1356. 
(Latin text in Putnam, The Enforcement of the 
Statutes of Laborers, Appendix, pp. 24-25. 
20 Translation by the editor.) 

1 The capias was the writ in civil suits which ordered the taking 
into custody of the defendant. An exigend might follow an unsuc- 
cessful capias, and was the writ preliminary to outlawry, outlawry 
always being the measure of last resort against the party who could 

25 not be produced in court. 

2 The tax known as the "Fifteenth." 

3 The remainder of the Statute contains sundry detailed directions 
to sheriffs and justices, and a clause directing that "the said jus- 
tices [of the peace] make their sessions in all the counties of England 

30 at the least four times a year," a practice which soon developed into 
Quarter Sessions. 

152 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

The king to his dear and faithful Robert Fraun- 
ceys and Thomas Adam of Ashbourne, greeting. 
Know that we have appointed you for the purpose 
of keeping and causing to be kept in the county of 

s Derby, inside and outside the liberties, the ordi- 
nance and statute of laborers, artisans, and ser- 
vants, (in all and singular their articles), which were 
made in our council and parliament recently held 
at Westminster for the common good of our king- 

io dom of England; also to inquire about sheriffs, 
seneschals, bailiffs, ministers, and any others who, 
under color of said ordinance and statute, have 
arrested such laborers, artisans, and servants and 
then, by their own authority, freed them as a result 

is of fines and ransoms appropriated to their own use, 
without having observed the regulations contained 
in said ordinance and statute; also to hear and de- 
termine according to the force and effect of said 
ordinance and statute everything which has been 

20 undertaken in said county (inside or outside the 
liberties) against the form of said statute and ordi- 
nance, either at our suit or that of any others who 
wish to prosecute or make complaint before you. 
Moreover, we have appointed you our justices to 

as hear and, by a just fine, to determine all indict- 
ments and processes touching such laborers, arti- 
sans, and servants brought before our justices last 
assigned to this same county and not yet concluded. 
And therefore we command you to attend to all 

iS3 



Source Problems in English History 

and singular the premises at a set day and place 
which you will provide for the purpose, and that 
you hear and determine these matters to the end 
of doing therein what pertains to justice according 
s to the force and effect of the said ordinance and 
statute, saving to us the amercements and other 
things due to us thence. . . . Witness the King at 
Westminster, the tenth day of March. By the 
council. 

io Those named below have similar commissions in 

the counties and towns following, to wit : l . . . 

9. Proceedings before the Justices of Laborers. 1355; 

1358. (Latin text in Putnam, Enforcement of 

the Statutes of Laborers, Appendix, pp. 174, 

15 175; 152-154. Translation by the editor.) 

a. Hereford. [1355.] 

The jurors make presentment to the effect that 
John Monyword of Hereford, weaver, took from 
John Spicer of the same [county] an excess charge 

30 for his work in the twenty-eighth year [of the reign], 
to wit, 2-1/ 2d. for an ell, and that he is a common 
taker of excess. . . . 

Nicholas Webbe, weaver, Robert Plassh, weaver, 
[eight other weavers] took more for their work, 

25 against the ordinance, etc., 2 than they were ac- 
customed to take in the twentieth and twenty-first 

1 This commission was sent to " 11 counties, 12 towns, 18 liberties, 
1 group of wapentakes." — Putnam, op. cit., Ap., p. 41. 
s In this and similar connections the et cetera indicates that the 
30 full formal or legal phraseology has been curtailed. 

154 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

years of the reign of King Edward III., and they are 
common and notorious takers of excess. 

[One hundred and two other individuals are pre- 
sented for similar offenses, representing the following 

5 occupations: carpenter, plasterer, spinster, common 
laborer (male and female), kempster, knitter (?), day- 
laborer, water-carrier (female), carder, servant bound 
for three years, weaver (male and female), huckster, 
tailor, furbisher, mower, thresher, furrier, dressmaker, 

io reaper (female), parchment-maker, glover, fuller, tiler.] 1 

Hence the sheriff was ordered to cause all the 

above-named artisans, laborers, and servants to 

come before us here the following Tuesday to answer 

to the lord king for their said excess charges and 

•is trespasses. And all the weavers, fullers, and car- 
penters came of their own accord, and on being 
asked how they wished to acquit themselves of the 
excesses and trespasses charged against them as 
appear above, they did not deny the excesses, but 

20 sought admittance to the lord king's grace. And 
they were allowed to pay fine, etc. Pledges of the 
fines. ... 

[Five pledges are named; then follow the sums of 
the fines of 43 delinquents, beginning with John Mony- 

25 word, 1 os.; half mark, js., 2s., js., 4od., i2d., ijd., 
3s., 3s., 2S., 2s., half mark, 3s., 4od., 4od., 3s., 3s., 2s., 
6d., 6d., 6d., 4od., i8d., 2s., 2s., I2d., 2s., I2d., 2s., 

1 This is Miss Putnam's summary, except that the editor has at- 
tempted to translate the names of the occupations. 

u J S5 



Source Problems in English History 

I2d., 4s., 4od., half mark, 4s., 8s., I2d., 4s., 8s., half 

mark, 8s., I2d., js.] x 

b. Thursday [Cornwall. 1358.] 

The jurors make presentment to the effect that 

s John Clegh Jr., Nichola Karn, Dionisia Trethak, 
Thomas Tremenhir, Johanna Nichol, Richard Gor- 
ben, John Coly [sixteen other names], John Sebill, 
tailor, John Henri [thirty-one other names], John, a 
servant of Henry Nanfan, Richard Polgrim [five 

10 other names], John, a servant of Thomas Mewes, 
took excessive wages, prices, and profits in their 
divers works and wares against the form of the lord 
king's statute, etc. Hence the sheriff was com- 
manded to attach them against Friday at Penryn, 

is that they then be before the said justices, etc. . . . 
Friday. 

The sheriff answered that the said John Clegh, 
Nichola Karn, and all the others named above had 
been individually attached by their separate plevins. 2 

20 . . . The said John Clegh Jr., Nichola Karn, Dionisia 
Trethak, and Thomas Tremenhir did not come. 
Therefore their pledges in mercy, etc. And the 
sheriff was commanded to arrest them against 
Saturday next at Helleston before the said justices, 

2s etc. And the said Johanna Nichol, Richard Gor- 
ben, John Coly, and the others named above came 
and said that they were not guilty of that which 
the said jurors presented above, and placed them- 

1 Miss Putnam's summary. 2 Pledges or warrants. 

156 



Fourteenth-Century Labor Problem 

selves upon their country, etc. Therefore the 
sheriff was ordered to cause twelve [jurors] to come 
to Helleston, etc., the next Saturday before the said 
justices, etc. . . . 

5 Saturday. 

The sheriff answered that the said John Clegh 
Jr., Nichola Karn, Dionisia Trethak, and Thomas 
Tremenhir had been arrested and were in custody. 
Who, being required, came; and, asked about the 

io aforesaid presentment, said that they were not 
guilty and put themselves on their country etc., 
as the said Johanna Nichol, Richard Gorben, John 
Coly, and the other their above-named associates 
had done. Hence the sheriff was commanded forth- 

is with to summon twelve, etc., to make a jury, etc. 
The jurors drawn, selected, and sworn on behalf 
of the lord king and the aforesaid parties acquitted 
the said John Clegh, Nichola Karn, Dionisia Tre- 
thak, and Thomas Tremenhir of the excesses and 

20 trespasses presented above. Therefore let them go 
quit etc. And the said Johanna Nichol, Richard 
Gorben, John Coly, and the other their above-named 
associates were found guilty. Therefore they were 
summoned and made fine as appears in the estreats * 

25 sent to the king's exchequer. 

1 Certified lists of fines. 



PROBLEM V 

V. — Freedom of Speech Under Elizabeth and 
the Stuarts 



Freedom of Speech Under Elizabeth 
and the Stuarts 

I. THE HISTORICAL SETTING OF THE PROBLEM 

IN the history of Parliamentary liberties freedom of 
speech makes about the longest story. 1 One of the 
first rights assumed, it was almost the last important 
right to be won. Only a short while after there began 
to be such a term as Parliament, and almost a century be- 
fore the institution to which that term was applied had 
taken on regular form, there emerged the notion that 
members of that body should have something like free- 
dom of speech. When the magnates in 1237 "withdrew 
to a private place to consult" and discuss measures 
in the absence of the King, they were asking for liberty 
of debate. That liberty was unlikely to be denied them 
for several reasons. They would probably not be checked 
in any way so long as they talked in most part about 

1 This sketch is based chiefly upon the rolls of Parliament, with 
some examination of such chronicles as were available. If it is 
fuller on the beginnings of privilege than on its later history, it is be- 
cause an understanding of the early precedents is necessary for any 
just comprehension of the later struggle. The paper is necessarily 
neither complete nor final. The subject has, however, been dealt 
with quite too briefly in constitutional histories, and in the main their 
treatments do not afford an adequate background for a judgment 
of Elizabeth's and James's policy in the matter. 

161 



Source Problems in English History 

money, so long as their principal business was to grant 
what the King wished. They were the more unlikely to 
be checked because the distinction between the lords who 
belonged to Parliament and those who belonged to the 
Council was so slow in becoming fixed. Not until the 
Upper House was a definite body quite cut off from the 
Council was there any need of a right to speak freely. 
Such a right belonged naturally to councilors. What was 
said in Council by way of criticism of administration was 
advice; what was said in another place might be regarded 
as censure. And even when the Lords had become a 
separate body their utterances as members of the Upper 
House were not likely to raise royal objection. Opposi- 
tion on their part would be so serious that they would 
not venture to oppose the sovereign except when they 
could present a united front. Hence the question of free 
speech seldom arose in the Upper House. As for the 
Commons, they pulled so weak an oar that the King might 
not deem them worth calling to account. 

There was no reason then why freedom of speech should 
become an issue in the early history of Parliament. No 
question was raised about it. It was not probable 
that it would be denied or asserted in the face of denial 
until new conditions arose. In the reign of Richard II. 
and Henry IV. those new conditions appear. The long 
factional strife between almost evenly balanced forces 
which begins in the closing years of Edward III. and 
closes only with the death of Henry IV. was peculiar^ 
fitted for the development of a less obvious right such as 
freedom of speech. It was a time when to-day's leader 
might prove to-morrow's victim at Smithfield. What was 
said in Parliament might prove treason unless guarded 
by privilege. A second condition was the discontent 
arising from heavy taxes. Edward III.'s wars cost money 

162 



Freedom of Speech 

which the "poor Commons" found it hard to pay, but 
had to keep right on paying through the reign of Richard 
II. When there are heavy taxes to pay, all things look 
dark to those who have to vote them, and the fault is 
believed to lie necessarily with the administration. The 
complaints and delay of the Commons were sure to pro- 
voke royal resentment. A third condition was the evolu- 
tion of Parliamentary machinery. A clerk appears early 
in the fourteenth century and a spokesman of the Com- 
mons before the middle of the century; elementary forms 
of procedure begin to become regular. With the evolu- 
tion of offices and forms privileges were sure to follow. A 
fourth condition was the enforced subordination of Henry 
IV. to his Parliament, a result of the manner of his acces- 
sion and of other causes which cannot briefly be explained. 
Such conditions were likely to breed some notion of 
free speech. That notion is first to be seen in the opposi- 
tion to the King's assumption that the Commons must 
discuss only those matters laid before them, an assump- 
tion particularly characteristic of Richard's rule. Parlia- 
ment had just reached that point where the right of 
petition was beginning in some degree at least to be a 
right of initiation. 1 Hence when Richard's chancellors 
again and again told the knights and burgesses to stick 
to their business and not to meddle with "foreign mat- 
ters" — i. e., matters other than those laid before them — 
there was natural disappointment. The King wished 
them not to meddle because he wished money at once 
and because he had not been used to meddling. He was 
so vexed with them 2 that in 1387 he appealed to the 

1 1, e., of initiating laws, rather than merely passing those proposed 
to them. 

2 Richard had been stirred in special degree by the attack of Par- 
liament on Michael de la Pole, in 1386. 

163 



Source Problems in English History 

judges. Had Parliament a right, he asked, when the 
King had assigned certain subjects for discussion, to 
neglect those matters and deal with others? The judges 
answered the King as he wished, that Parliament ought 
not to diverge from the program set before it. By a 
judicial decision the King had stopped the Commons' 
interference. That decision, reversed in 1388, reaffirmed 
in 1397, was finally quashed at the beginning of Henry 
IV. 's reign. From that time on it remained settled that 
Parliament need not hold fast to a set plan of action. 
Indeed, in the very reign of Henry IV. (1406) the words 
of the Commons seemed to carry the theory of independ- 
ent action further. When they learned that the King 
was hurt because they "had talked otherwise than they 
ought about his royal person" they sent word through 
the Speaker begging to be excused and declaring that 
they had "neither said nor done anything concerning the 
royal person in any other way than loyal lieges ought to 
do and talk for the honor and advantage of our lord 
the King and of his whole realm." Not only could they 
talk as they liked about matters in general, they seemed 
to say, but it might be their duty to discuss the affairs 
of the royal person. Had they meant as much as that, 
had they understood the implications of what they said, 
or lived up to them, these words might have been a sig- 
nificant starting-point. That they did not understand 
is clear from the course of after events. 

The notion of free speech also reveals itself in the 
growth of the idea that the King should hear from Parlia- 
ment only through approved channels. In 1376 Parlia- 
ment had provided that in the Council chosen members 
should report to the King what was going on, and only 
they. The distinction between the Council and the 
Upper House was then so recent that the notion of such 

164 



Freedom of Speech 

a principle of action as to the Council suggests a similar 
principle as to Parliament. And indeed there is a bit 
of evidence in the very same year that the members of 
the Commons thought they had a right to be heard by 
the King only through their Speaker. They considered 
at some length who should be their Speaker. "Careful 
they were, . . . for they doubted certain of the King's sec- 
retaries, who, they thought, would have disclosed their 
drifts, for that they were captious and in great and special 
favor with the King." 1 The consciousness of such a right 
comes out again in the poem, "Richard the Redeless," 
ascribed to William Langland and written in the year of 
Richard's deposition. Some members of Parliament, he 
tells us — for he has been discussing Parliament — were 
tattlers, and went to the King and told him who were 
his friends and who were his foes, men who for their 
speeches deserved well. Two years later the principle 
was more definitely recognized when Henry IV. declared, 
in answer to the Commons' request through Speaker 
Savage, that it was his will that the Commons should 
have deliberation and advice, and that he would not hear 
or give credence to people who for their own advance- 
ment informed him ahead of time of what had been 
determined in Parliament. 2 

1 Stow's translation of the St. Albans Chronicle, Archceologia, 
XXII., 213. 

2 In 1407, when the Commons stood out for their right of initia- 
tion of money grants, their words touched freedom of speech. "It 
is lawful," they said, "for the Lords to discuss among themselves 
assembled ... in the absence of the King concerning the estate 
of the realm and the remedy needful to it. And that in like manner 
it is lawful for the Commons on their part. . . ." Of the earlier his- 
tory of money grants an interesting account could be written, and 
such an account would reveal several examples of the notion that 
discussion should be independent of the King. 

165 



Source Problems in English History 

The notion shows itself, thirdly, in the Speaker's de- 
mand for himself and for the Commons of certain definite 
immunities. Such a demand was sure to come soon after 
a speaker appeared. The first recorded protestation be- 
longs to 1377. In that year Peter de la Mare declared 
that what he had to say he would say not of his own 
initiative, but on the motion, assent, and expressed wish 
of all the Commons there present, and if he should hap- 
pen to say anything not by the assent of his companions 
he asked that it should be amended by them before he 
left Parliament. The raison d'Stre of this protestation is 
easily seen. De la Mare had spent the best part of two 
years in prison for what he and his associates had said 
and done in the Good Parliament. He was taking no 
chances. 1 This protestation was merely a measure of self- 
protection. The protestation of 1378 was a good deal 
more. Speaker Pickering asked in behalf of the Com- 
mons that if he should say anything which was to the 
prejudice, damage, slander, or hurt of the King, of his 
crown, or to the diminution of the honor and position 
of the Lords, it should be regarded as not having been 
said. 2 In 1397 the protestation was entered upon the 
rolls, and in 1399 in the first Parliament of Henry 
IV. 's reign Speaker Cheyne added to the wording of 
his request the sentence, "And that they [his com- 

1 But the phrasing of the statement (Rot. Pari. Ill, 5) suggests 
that this was by no means the first protestation. 

2 Space forbids tracing the history of protestation. In 1379 
the Speaker asked that if he should say or do anything to 
the displeasure of our lord the King the Commons were not 
to be held responsible. Speaker Bussy in 1397 asked to be 
excused if he should say anything to the displeasure of the 
King or against his royal estate or regal power, words which 
suggest that the protestation was phrased with some regard to 
the situation at that time. 

166 



Freedom of Speech 

panions] should have their liberty in Parliament as be- 
fore this time." * 

The conception of free speech comes out also in the 
opposition raised to the punishment by the King of 
members for what they said in Parliament. The earliest 
instance of anything like this is the well-known case of 
Peter de la Mare, already adverted to. Peter was the 
Speaker of the Good Parliament, and as leader of the 
knights who were leagued with the Black Prince, had 
gained the ill-will of the Court, of John of Gaunt, Duke 
of Lancaster, and of the militant Alice Perrers, mistress 
of Edward III. When the Good Parliament had ad- 
journed and the Black Prince had gone to his reward, 
the reactionaries, as we should call them to-day, took 
charge. De la Mare was shut up in prison. Now it will 
not do to say that De la Mare was confined only for what 
he had said. 2 Rather it was for what he had said and 
done. Indeed, it is more nearly true to say that in the 
struggle, which amounted almost to civil war, one faction 
had got the upper hand and naturally put the leaders 
of the other in prison. What is interesting is that in the 
reactionary Parliament that met just after De la Mare's 
imprisonment there were a few members who sought for 
his liberation, "since the said Peter was ready to answer 

1 In 1410 the King, in answer to the Speaker's protestation, asked 
the Commons not to do anything or talk in any way which would 
not be honorable or would not promote the good feeling and unity 
of all parties. In the next year when the Speaker made his pro- 
testation Henry granted him "his liberty as in past times," but 
went on to say that he did not wish any "novellerie" in this Parlia- 
ment, but to be as free as his ancestors. Evidently Henry was 
wary, as Elizabeth later, of granting too much. 

2 But it is interesting that the St. Albans Chronicle says: "And 
so a good and innocent man . . . since he did not wish to cover up 
the truth, was greatly wronged." — Chronicon AnglicB, p. 105, 

167 



Source Problems in English History 

all things objected against him in the presence of the 
lords who had come to Parliament." Is it possible that 
De la Mare's friends were making the point that for what 
he had said in Parliament he could be tried only there? 
Such a conception was later to prove no small defense of 
free speech. 

Whatever the significance of the De la Mare case, the 
objections to royal interference appear clearly in 1386 
and 1388. In the earlier year Parliament, alarmed at 
rumors of royal plots against its safety, addressed the 
King. The members declared that they ought to be 
called together once a year "into the highest court, in 
which all calmness ought to shine forth without any anx- 
iety ... in order to reform the abuses of the kingdom" 1 
... and with wholesome discussion dispose and foresee 
how the burdens of the kingdom could be supported. 2 
In 1388 when the Lords Appellant were in the saddle they 
made the charge that certain men whom they named — 
the opposition party — had caused the King to drive away 
from his Council and from Parliament such men as moved 
for good government, until those men no longer dared to 
speak of the matter nor to discuss the question of good 
government. 3 

Richard had appealed to the judges in 1387 for a ruling. 

1 After that Parliament had adjourned, the King called the judges 
together at Nottingham, as already mentioned, and among the 
questions put to them asked one that has a bearing in this connec- 
tion. Ought men to be punished, he inquired, who proposed in 
Parliament to send for the statute concerning the deposition of 
Edward II. Such men, the judges replied, were traitors.' Their 
ruling, like that already mentioned reversed and reaffirmed, was 
annulled with the accession of Henry IV. 

2 Knighton, II, 217. 

8 The Lords Appellant further blamed the King for staying away 
from Parliament until he was assured that certain men would cease 
talking against his favorites. 

168 



Freedom of Speech 

What he did in 1397 in the Haxey case was much the same, 
save that it was a question of punishing speech rather 
than of divergence from program. He had been angered 
at the beginning of the session when he heard of efforts 
to rouse the Commons against the proposed expedition 
to aid the King of France. He was more indignant 
when he learned that the Commons had discussed four 
questions which concerned his "regalie et roial estat et 
libertee." On the matter of the four points he addressed 
the Lords, complaining in particular of the fourth in which 
the expenses of the King's household had been censured. 
He was grieved "that the Commons who are his lieges 
should mistake or presume on any ordinance of govern- 
ment of the King or of his household." He wished his 
opinion communicated to the Commons and asked Lan- 
caster to find out from the Speaker who had presented 
the bill. The guilt was put upon Thomas Haxey, a 
clergyman. The Commons apologized humbly enough, 
"recognizing well that such matters do not belong at all 
to them, but only to the King and to his ordaining." 
All that they intended was that the Lords should ask the 
King to consider his estate and do what was pleasing to 
him. Richard then procured a judgment by the Lords 
that if any one moved or stirred up the Commons to 
make a remedy of reform or anything touching our gov- 
ernment or regality he should be deemed a traitor. He 
was carrying a court ruling a step further than in 1387, 
and was giving to it the weight of Parliament. Haxey 
was tried by Parliament and condemned. Early in 
Henry IV. 's reign the judgment was reversed — Haxey 
had been pardoned meantime — and it was declared that 
Haxey' s condemnation had been against law and practice 
hitherto used in Parliament, in derogation of the customs 
of the Commons. 

169 



Source Problems in English History 

Clearly the conception of a Parliamentary right of free 
speech had made progress in the reigns of Richard II. 
and Henry IV. And yet the sum total of evidence is 
disappointing. It would be hardly worth recording and 
analyzing in this brief setting were it not that these early 
notions and precedents, however vague they seem to us, 
were to be much used by the protagonists of privilege at 
a later time. Strong bulwarks of liberty have sometimes 
been erected on slight foundations. The truth is that in 
the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries Parlia- 
ment was so little aware of its possible powers that it did 
not conceive clearly the dangers besetting it. In all the 
thirty or so charges drawn up against Richard II. by a 
government that wished to find as many as possible, a 
list that embodies pretty accurately the constitutional 
conceptions of the time, both as to the right of the sub- 
ject and of Parliament, there is no statement of Richard's 
repeated interferences with free speech in Parliament, 
save in a slight allusion to the "threats and terrors" 1 
used to overawe the Shrewsbury Parliament of 1397. 2 
Not a word is said or implied about the wrong done to 
Haxey. With all the seeming progress in clarifying the 
notion, old as Parliament, that discussion should be in- 
dependent of the King, no method of securing members 
against royal imprisonment for what they said had been 
developed, no custom of asking for the liberation of mem- 
bers so imprisoned had been established, and no prob- 
ability that such wrongs would be righted — unless a sud- 

1 This was mentioned in a paragraph chiefly devoted to an attack 
upon Richard's methods of controlling elections to Parliament. 

2 That the King had forced the judges to give opinions contrary 
to their intentions was, however, put down as an evidence of 
his unconstitutional government. Those opinions, of course, in- 
cluded two items, as we have seen, that concerned freedom of 
speech. 

170 



Freedom of Speech 

den shift of parties or kings took place — could be asserted. 
It was almost as likely at the end of Henry IV. 's reign 
as at any earlier time that if members said what the 
King did not like they would have reason to regret it. 

How little conception of a constitutional principle there 
was is best shown by a consideration of the period of 
nearly a century and a half that follows. Parliament had 
resisted the royal claim that it should stick to the busi- 
ness set before it. But it can be abundantly proved that 
in the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries Parliament 
continued to hold fast to the program set before it. And 
it was very far indeed from presuming to deal with matters 
that concerned the King's person. The notion that the 
King should get all his knowledge of what was going on 
through official channels was so nearly lost in the fifteenth 
and sixteenth centuries that its violation occasioned little 
notice. 1 As for the Speaker's request at the beginning of 
the session, it ceased to carry the significant words of 
the early requests and became almost a meaningless for- 
mula in behalf of the Speaker's safety. The raising of 
objections to interference with speech in Parliament was 
unnecessary in the century that followed Henry IV. 
because the King had so little reason to complain. 

A few cases in the long period from Henry IV. to the 
beginning of Elizabeth must nevertheless be touched 
upon. That of Thomas Yonge is classical. Yonge asked 
and received from Parliament restitution because he had 
been put in the Tower "for matters shown by him in the 
House." He stated that by the old liberty and freedom 
of the Commons of this land all members "ought to have 
their freedom to speak and say in the House of their 
assembly as to them is thought convenient and reason- 

1 For evidence that this notion was existent in the reign of 
Henry VIII. see Holinshed (London, 1806), III, 766. 

12 J 7i 



Source Problems in English History 

able without any man's challenge or punition therefore." 
These are good words, yet Yonge's privilege was claimed 
only because he happened to be on the winning side in 
one of the sudden turns of the Wars of the Roses. That 
his right was thought of is nevertheless evidence that 
earlier precedents had not been quite forgotten. 

The case of Richard Strode, in the reign of Henry VIII. 
(15 1 2), reveals the connection between the notion of free 
speech and the conception of Parliament as the highest 
court in the realm, the transactions in which were not to 
be disputed in any other court. Strode had introduced 
a bill into the Commons that affected Devonshire tinners. 
For that he was imprisoned by the Stannary Court, a 
court that had to do with the affairs of tinners. There- 
upon Parliament declared that all suits against the said 
Richard "for any bill, speaking, reasoning, or declaring of 
any matters concerning the Parliament to be communed 
or treated of, to be utterly void and of none effect." 1 
This was, of course, the assertion of the right of the high 
court of Parliament as against other courts to have 
jurisdiction over its own members for their dealings in 
Parliament. 2 Men were to be free for what they said 
in Parliament — from legal action in other courts. 
It was the action of the courts and not of the King that 
was guarded against. The King might imprison members 
for their speeches in Parliament, but he could not make 
use of the courts to do it. 

Of Henry VIII. 's relation to Parliament everybody 
knows. That great bully manifested occasionally some 

1 Unfortunately the statute about Strode was so worded that 
there might be a reasonable doubt as to its general interpretation. 
Of this doubt judges were later to take full advantage. 

2 This aspect of free speech deserves a much fuller treatment than 
it can be given here. 

172 



Freedom of Speech 

inclination to give Parliament consideration. 1 "The 
discussions in the English Parliament," he wrote the 
Pope, "are free and unrestricted. The crown has no 
power to limit their debates . . . they determine everything 
for themselves." Perhaps Henry believed that, but he 
knew very well that Parliament would do as he wished. 
The Spanish Ambassador wrote to Charles V. that for 
a Parliament member to have resisted the proposed legis- 
lation about Queen Katharine would have been worse 
than heresy. 2 Henry's message to Gostwick is well 
known. That Kentish knight had attacked Cranmer 
"openly in Parliament" for his preaching and reading 
in Kent. "Tell that varlet," the King sent word, "that 
if he do not acknowledge his fault unto my lord of Canter- 
bury I will soon make him a poor Gostwick and other- 
wise punish him to the example of others." Gostwick 
acknowledged it. 3 

In 1542, so Elsynge tells us, the Speaker's petition for 
freedom of speech was first recorded. In the want of 
evidence at hand it may be conjectured that this was 
merely a slightly more definite statement of the custom- 
ary protestation. 4 Prothero says that the first occasion 

1 E. g., Hen. VIII., Letters and Papers, X, No. 462. 

* Ibid., VII, 127. The Commons, in 1523, made a claim to 
freedom of speech. Cardinal Wolsey "came again into the Lower 
House and desired that he might reason with them that were against 
the demand (for a large grant), but he was answered that the order 
of that House was to hear and not to reason except among them- 
selves." — Holinshed, III, 685. 

3 It must not be overlooked, of course, that the Tudor practice 
of appointing ministers from the Commons was likely to make dis- 
cussion in the Lower House somewhat less frank than it might 
otherwise have been. 

4 The Speaker's request in 1523 was pretty definite. He asked 
pardon for any member who "might speak more largely than of 
duty he ought."— Holinshed, III, 682-683. 

173 



Source Problems in English History 

when the three privileges — i. e., access to the sovereign, 
freedom from arrest, and freedom of speech — were asked, 
was in 1554 in the reign of Mary. There are several in- 
dications that in the decade or so just before Elizabeth 
the notion of free speech was becoming clearer. Certainly 
there was actual discussion and difference of opinion in 
the Commons. 

What was the importance of the principle of free speech 
when Elizabeth took the throne ? Had freedom of speech 
been once secured and allowed to lapse, had it made great 
progress in an early and Parliamentary period only to be 
arrested by civil wars and Tudor despotism ? Or had the 
principle never gained much headway, and the early 
precedents in favor of it been much less important than 
they afterward seemed? The whole series of events here 
sketched, as well as many related facts, incline one to the 
second view. The more one reads Tudor Parliamentary 
history the less reverence he has for the familiar dictum 
that the Constitution had been made by 1485, 1 the more 
he comes to suspect that much of Parliamentary liberty 
was won by Elizabethan and seventeenth-century orators 
who had a knack for weaving from thin Lancastrian 
threads thick cords to bind their kings. To one who 
goes over early Tudor records it looks very much as if 
Parliament were as yet largely a ratifying body. Cer- 
tainly that seems to be the main function of the Commons. 
It is hard to escape the impression that their body, in- 
stead of having through new circumstances lost its pristine 
influence, never had had a great deal of influence. No 
increasing purpose to broaden freedom out from precedent 
to precedent runs through its records. What the mem- 
bers did was what they had been told to do, and they 

1 Of course on the side of the common law the Constitution was 
pretty well made by 1485, 

174 



Freedom of Speech 

did it as if they had always been used so to do. They 
passed measures which had been initiated by members 
of the Council, examined by judges, and revised by "sage 
clerks." Sometimes the bishops had a finger, often a 
hand, in the proposed laws. It is true, of course, that the 
Commons had a right of initiation ; but it was a right more 
honored in the breach than in the observance. The 
exercise of it on any important matter would have been 
regarded by the Tudor sovereigns as an encroachment 
upon their prerogatives. The actual discussions in the 
Commons, it may be imagined in the want of any large 
body of evidence on this point, had to do largely with 
money grants, a matter in which the Commons played a 
real part. 1 Upon other subjects they were no doubt 
encouraged to deliberate, so long as they followed the 
lead of the Councilors. They might sometimes amend 
measures. Indeed we find them in the reign of Edward 
VI. occasionally rejecting measures or being persuaded, 
not without difficulty, to pass them. But such cases seem 
unusual. 

If such an interpretation should prove true at all, it 
will be seen that there would be little occasion to sup- 
press free speech in the Commons and less reason for them 
to insist upon the privilege. And such an interruption 
would provoke questions about the course of free speech 
under Elizabeth and the Stuarts. When Peter Went- 
worth, Coke, and Phelips fought for the privilege, were 
they regaining old trenches or thrusting forward into 
new ones? 

Upon freedom of speech depended the whole battle 
for Parliamentary liberty. No limitation of ordinance or 
proclamation, no insistence upon exact wording in the 

1 E. g., see Holinshed, III, 685. See also Hen. VIII., Letters and 
Papers, III, No. 83. 

175 



Source Problems in English History 

drafting of laws, none of the various forms of control 
by which Parliament was on its way to become a legis- 
lature, would avail if the King could curb the members' 
tongues. All that had been won, all the realization of 
limited monarchy to which Elizabethan political thinkers 
awakened, might go by the board if James and Charles 
could silence debate. The Kings of England might be- 
come what they sometimes wished to be, kings like those 
in France. Much was at stake in those debates between 
sovereign and Parliament. Wentworth and Strickland 
knew it, Coke knew it. Most of all perhaps Eliot knew 
it, dying in the Tower by slow degrees, unacclaimed, that 
a precedent might not be set at naught. 



II. INTRODUCTIONS TO THE SOURCES 

PART A 1 

Commons Journals. 

These need little discussion. They were based upon 
the notes taken by the clerk of the House, and upon 
copies of the motions, resolutions, petitions, etc., that 
were left with the clerk. 

Calendars of State Papers, Domestic. 

These calendars of the papers in the Public Record 
Office in London are arranged in chronological order and 
make up many volumes which are still coming out. The 

1 This discussion of the sources, the questions, and the sources 
themselves have been divided into Parts A and B, A covering Eliza- 
beth, and B the Stuarts. This has been done to make possible the 
study of the problem in two parts, or the study of either part with- 
out the other. The student who takes up the second part without 
the first, however, is advised to read the Historical Setting at the 
beginning. 

176 



Freedom of Speech 

earlier volumes were little more than lists, but the later 
ones have included very complete and almost satisfactory 
abstracts of the contents of each paper. 

Calendars of State Papers, Domestic, 1 547-1 580, p. 283. 

Here is listed a minute of the message to the House of 
Commons from the Queen. It has been transcribed in 
full for the editors from the Record Office in London. 
In that office it is listed as Eliz. Vol. XLI. No. 30. 

Calendars of State Papers, Foreign. 

These are translations, generally in full, of the letters 
(written in most cases from London) by the representati "*** 
of foreign governments. Their emphasis is of course u 
diplomacy, and their accounts and comments upon I - 
lish politics are not always of the greatest worth. Some of 
them, however, have caught the trick of English political 
ways and give many interesting lights upon political 
events. Those quoted in this problem may all be char- 
acterized as in the main trustworthy. 

Spanish Papers, 1 558-1 567, pp. 594-603. 

De Silva's narrative of Elizabeth's dealings with Par- 
liament betrays close acquaintance with affairs in Eng- 
land. He was quite as much a political agent as an am- 
bassador. The account quoted fits in well with what we 
know from other sources. It will be seen that De Silva 
had unusual opportunity to know the royal side of the 
story. 

D'Ewes, Simonds, Journal of all the Parliaments during 
the Reign of Queen Elizabeth. (London, 1682.) 

D'Ewes was a seventeenth-century antiquarian who 
put together from all available sources — little has ever 
been added — a compendious history of Parliamentary 
debates and proceedings in the reign of Elizabeth. He 
made elaborate and intelligent use of the journals of the 
clerk, a good part of which have since been lost (putting 

177 



Source Problems in English History 

in corrections where necessary), of journals kept by in- 
dividual members, of fragments of separate speeches 
which he had picked up, and of contemporary annals. 
Out of all these and in particular out of the clerk's jour- 
nals he wove a combination text. In that text he was 
careful to show from what kind of material each part was 
drawn. So much that he put in would otherwise be lost 
that the obligation of historical students to his work is 
great. D'Ewes was a careful compiler and his record is 
as good as its originals, all of which were without doubt 
authentic reports. 

Townshend, Heyward, Historical Collections of the Last 
Four Parliaments of Queen Elizabeth. (London, 1680.) 

Townshend's journal up to 1597 is not his own, but is 
based upon a private journal with the additions of ma- 
terials from the journals of the two Houses. From 1597 
on the journal for the Commons is evidently a personal 
diary with other materials inserted. Its exact character, 
its relation to D'Ewes, and to the lost Commons Journal 
needs elucidation, but for our purpose it is enough to 
say that it is clearly authentic. 



PART B 

Commons Journals. 
For a description of these see Part A. 
Lords Journals. 

These journals, like those of the Commons, are based 
upon the clerk's notes and papers. 
Calendars of State Papers, Domestic. 
For a general description of these calendars see Part A. 
Calendars of State Papers, Domestic, 1611-18, pp. 236- 

178 



Freedom of Speech 

The two letters briefed here record facts to be found 
in many places. John Chamberlain was not connected 
with the government, but wrote letters to his friend 
Carleton, who was English ambassador at Venice. Sir 
Ralph Winwood had just recently been made secretary 
of state. 

Calendars of State Papers, Domestic, 161Q-23, pp. 326- 

327- 

The account of the King's coming to Council here 
quoted is probably a narrative prepared for publication 
by one of the secretaries. (See Parliamentary History, ed. 

1751. v, 513-514-) 

Calendars of State Papers, Foreign. 

For general description of these calendars see Part A. 

Venetian Papers, 1621-1623, pp. 183-184. 

Girolamo Lando's narrative is gossipy but interesting. 
What he tells here is by no means improbable. 

The Parliamentary History (London, 1806), is an 
eighteenth-century (first edition 175 1) compendium in 
many volumes of the debates in Parliament. The 
speeches and papers are gathered with a wide net. Where 
possible the material quoted should be reduced to its 
original source. The Apology of the Commons here 
quoted is taken by the editors of the Parliamentary His- 
tory from William Petyt's Jus Parliamentarium, a book 
about Parliament written by a seventeenth-century 
manuscript collector and antiquarian. We may be sure 
that his copy of the Apology was transcribed from an 
authentic copy of the original. If we were not sure, the 
Apology could be found in the State Papers, Domestic, 
James I., Vol. VIII, No. 70. 

Cobbett's State Trials (London, 1809), is a collection of 
contemporary accounts, most of them made by court 
reporters, of important trials in English history. 

179 



Source Problems in English History 

Parliamentary Debates in 1610. Edited from the notes 
of a member of the House of Commons, by S. R. Gardi- 
ner (Camden Soc., 1862.) The original of this account 
is to be found in the British Museum, Add. MS., 4210. 
It is much the fullest report of what happened in this 
session. 

Sir Edward Nicholas, Proceedings and Debates of the 
House of Commons in 1620 and 162 1 (Oxford, 1766), 2 
Vols. Nicholas, who was destined to play an important 
r61e in later reigns, was at this time secretary of the 
Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports and a young mem- 
ber of Parliament. He kept very full notes of what hap- 
pened in Parliament, notes upon which rests most of our 
knowledge of the events in this session. The notes were 
published as anonymous, and it was not proved until the 
time of Gardiner that Nicholas wrote them. 

The Notes of the Parliament of 1626 are taken from 
photographs in the University of Minnesota Library, made 
from a diary in the possession of the Cambridge Univer- 
sity Library. The diary, which is exceedingly detailed 
(270 closely written double pages), and which was seem- 
ingly written as the debates were in progress, was prob- 
ably the work of Bulstrode Whitelocke. (See W. A. J. 
Archbold, Eng. Hist. Rev., 1902, p. 703.) It is much the 
fullest account of an important Parliament. 

a. Sir Richard Grosvenor, Notes of the Parliament of 

1628. 

b. Borlase Manuscript of the Parliament of 1628. 

c. Rushworth Historical Collections. (London, 1721.) 
The editor has put together an account of the extraor- 
dinary debate on June 5, 1628, from three sources, using 
those sources in turn. Between them the three offer a 
somewhat better account than can be found in any one, 
although all have many points in common. Grosvenor's 

180 



Freedom of Speech 

very detailed notes are taken from rotograph copies of 
the original, which is to be found in Trinity College, 
Dublin (E, 5. 33-36). They are rather disjointed and 
were evidently made during the progress of the debates, 
but they are obviously much more nearly verbatim than 
any of the other accounts and include many speeches 
to be found nowhere else. The Borlase Manuscript be- 
longs to the British Museum (Stowe, 366), and is a 
somewhat formal account of the proceedings. From the 
folding of the leaves and from other indications it may be 
conjectured that it was a sort of public account sold by 
stationers at so much for the week's proceedings. Such 
manuscript copies of Parliamentary proceedings were in 
demand and could be sold at good prices. While this 
account of the Parliament of 1628 is less exactly verbatim 
and more formal, it is quite the most picturesque narra- 
tive of the Parliament. Rushworth's account of the 
Parliament of 1628 is based upon another manuscript 
account of the proceedings, an account which, judging 
from the number of manuscripts in existence to-day, must 
have had very general circulation. It is an account which 
was evidently "written up" afterward, and often repre- 
sents probably more what the members intended to say, 
or thought afterward that they had said, than what they 
really uttered. 

HI. QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY 

Part A. Elizabeth 1 

1. Why was Elizabeth unwilling to have the question of the 
succession discussed? Why were the Commons so 
anxious to discuss it? 

1 See note on p. 176 explaining the division of this problem into 
two parts. 

181 



Source Problems in English History 

2. In the struggle of November, 1566, what was the com- 

promise arrived at? Which got the best of it? What 
led Elizabeth to make concession? 

3. In 1 57 1 why was Strickland detained from the Commons? 

Why did Carleton wish him brought before the bar of 
the House? What principle did he have in mind (see 
Strode case in Historical Setting)? In what light did 
Mr. Treasurer regard the introduction of Puritan 
legislation? 

4. By whom was Peter Wentworth sequestered in 1576? Was 

his sequestration a violation of privilege? 

5. What abuses of free speech did Wentworth point out? 

Was he the first to point out the fundamental impor- 
tance of free speech or had it been done before? 

6. When he says that the sovereign should be "under the law" 

what does he mean by law? 

7. What was Wentworth 's attitude toward the Queen? Did 

Wentworth stumble into trouble or seek it? Why? 

8. When the Chancellor in 1580 warned the Commons off cer- 

tain subjects what precedents for his action might he 
have cited? 

9. In Elizabeth's speech of February 15, 1593, is she pushing 

the sovereign's power further or standing by a former 
position? What threat does she make? Whom does 
she mean as "fitter to consider of such things"? 

10. Analyze the different ways in which Elizabeth interfered 

with free speech in the Commons. In what way did 
she transgress most often? In what way least often? 
Did she recognize any point beyond which she must 
not go? 

11. What light do you get on Elizabeth's character? 

12. What evidences do you find of her intention to rule con- 

stitutionally? 

13. Do you find any evidence that Elizabeth's councilors were 

not in full sympathy with her policy in the matter of 
privilege? Any evidence that their attitude sometimes 
affected her policy? 

182 



Freedom of Speech 

14. Do you find any reason to believe that the Commons tol- 

erated Elizabeth's violations of privilege because she 
was Elizabeth and a woman? 

15. Had freedom of speech been gaining or losing under Eliza- 

beth? 

16. What was Elizabeth's notion as to the freedom of members 

to introduce measures? Did her notion have any 
basis? 

17. What was Elizabeth's notion as to the rdle of the Privy 

Council in legislation? Any evidence that the Com- 
mons ever accepted that notion? 

18. What seems to have been meant by the "prince's preroga- 

tive"? How far had any notion developed that there 
should be limits to the prerogative? 



Part B. The Stuarts 

What light does the Apology of 1604 throw on the first year 
of James's reign? 

What do you think of distinction Bacon makes in the de- 
bates of 1610? What would be the result in practice 
of such a distinction? 

What different arguments are presented by the Commons 
in the Petition of 16 10? Was the Petition wholly 
true? 

In what two ways did James infringe upon freedom of 
speech in 16 14? 

When James threatened in his speech of December 4, 1621, 
to "punish any man's misdemeanors in parliament" 
was he keeping his promises? How would he probably 
have answered such a question? 

In the controversy between King and Commons as far as 
December 14th, what arguments of the King seem 
strong? What is the argument of the Commons? What 
inconsistency in their position? Why did they not 
make a more direct issue with the King? 
183 



Source Problems in English History 

7. When had James first made the claim that privileges are 

derived from grace? What was the implication of such 
a claim as to the value of precedents? What would 
such a claim mean about the English Constitution? 

8. Why were the Commons not satisfied with James's letter 

of December 17, 1621? 

9. On how wide a range of subjects did the Commons in the 

Protestation of December 18th claim a right of dis- 
cussion? 

10. What was intended to be the effect of tearing the Protesta- 

tion from the clerk's book? 

11. What do you think of Lando's prophecy as to what would 

happen the King if he did not stand upon his au- 
thority? 

12. Do you find any likeness between James's struggles with his 

Parliaments and Richard II.'s struggles? 

13. What indications do you find as to James's character? 

14. In the debate of May 12, 1626, how does Carleton's inter- 

pretation of the history of Parliaments compare with 
the facts? What is Carleton's theory of the best form 
of government? Is his statement on May 17th a 
threat or a prophecy? 

15. In the matter of Eliot and Digges, had Charles real occasion 

for anger? How does the whole incident reveal his 
weakness of character? Indicate two policies either 
of which would have been better. 

16. In the debates of June 5, 1628, what new form did the issue 

of free speech take? Was the sovereign on stronger or 
weaker ground than before? Why was the feeling so 
intense? 

17. In the trial before the King's Bench in 1629 what was the 

crux of the argument in the decision handed down? 
What was the significance of the decision? What had 
the King gained by it? What happened to Eliot (see 
any English history)? 
j 8. Go over the documents of James I. and Charles I. and 
point out the cases where the Commons had been urged 
184 



Freedom of Speech 

to keep off certain subjects; where members had been 
punished for speech in Parliament; where the King 
had received unofficial information of the proceedings 
in Parliament. 

19. Do you detect in the Parliaments of James's and Charles's 

reign any thought or concern beyond the immediate 
practical bearing of the matter? Do you detect any 
such concern upon the part of the crown? 

20. When the Long Parliament reversed the decision of the 

judges in 1630 what had it accomplished? 

21. What necessity for the action of Charles II. 's Parliament? 

22. What was the significance of the article about free speech 

in the Bill of Rights? 

23. Why was freedom of speech an absolutely vital matter in 

the seventeenth century? What fundamental question 
did it involve as to the future of English govern- 
ment? 

24. Point out the difference in attitude toward Parliament of 

Elizabeth and of the first Stuarts. 

25. What is the difference in the tone of Parliament toward 

the sovereign in the reign of Elizabeth and in the reigns 
of the first Stuarts? What about the claims of Parlia- 
ment under Elizabeth and under the first Stuarts? 

26. Go over the reigns of James I. and Charles I. and point out 

the cases where precedents and ancestral rights are 
appealed to in behalf of Parliament? Did the sup- 
porters of the King ever deny the historical founda- 
tion of free speech? 



IV. The Sources 
PART A 

FREEDOM OF SPEECH "UNDER ELIZABETH 

i. Commons Journals, I. 1 

Page 76. 

[Nov. 9, 1566.] Mr. Vice-Chamberlain [Sir Francis 
Knollys] declared the Queen's Majesty's express 
commandment to this House that they should no 
further proceed in their suit, but to satisfy them- 
selves with her Highness' promise of marriage. Mr. 
Secretary [Cecil] and Mr. Comptroller [Croft] sever- 
ally rehearsed the like matter. 

[Nov. nth.] Paul Wentworth, one of the bur- 
gesses, moved whether the Queen's commandment 
was not against the liberties; whereupon arose 
divers arguments continuing from nine of the clock 
till two afternoon. . . . 

1 It will be observed in this and in several of the following extracts 
that some of the same selections have been used as Prothero avails 
himself of in his excellent collection of documents. It was quite 
impossible to go over Elizabethan parliamentary sources and not 
to use some of the same passages. 

186 



Freedom of Speech 

Pages 76-77. 

[Nov. 12th.] Mr. Speaker, being sent for to at- 
tend upon the Queen's Majesty ... at his coming 
[to the House] . . . began to shew that he had re- 
s ceived a special commandment from her Highness 
to this House, notwithstanding her first command- 
ment, that there should not be further talk of that 
matter [the question of a successor in case the Queen 
should die without issue], and if any person thought 
20 not himself satisfied, but had further reasons, let him 
come before the Privy Council, there to shew them. 
Page 78. 

[Nov. 25th.] Mr. Speaker, coming from the Queen's 

Majesty, declared her Highness' pleasure to be that 

is for her good will to the House, she did revoke her 

two former commandments, requiring the House 

no further at this time to proceed in the matter. 

Which revocation was taken of all the House most 

joyfully, with most hearty prayer and thanks for 

20 the same. 

Page 81. 

[Jan. 2, 1567. Queen's speech in closing Parlia- 
ment.] ... It pleased the Queen's Majesty to declare 
. . . that she seemed not pleased with the doings of 
25 the Commons for busying themselves in this session 
with matters which did not appertain at this time. . . . 
2. Calendar of State Papers, Spanish, 15 58-1 567. 
Guzman de Silva (Spanish Ambassador to 
England), to the King. 

13 l8 7 



Source Problems in English History 

Page 594. 

[Nov. 11, 1566.I The members of Parliament who 
had met, as I wrote your Majesty on the 4th inst., 
resolved the same day to petition the Queen by com- 
5 mon consent to deal with the matter of the succession. 
She summoned them the next day to give them her 
reply, and made them a long speech, pointing out 
the dangers that might result therefrom to the peace 
and order of the country. This she enforced by 
10 examples, and said she was not surprised at the 
members of the Lower Chamber treating this mat- 
ter like inexperienced school-boys . . . but she mar- 
velled greatly that the Lords had concurred. . . . 

She told me that many of them [members of 

is Parliament] had asked pardon, saying they had no 

intention of offending her, but rather of serving her, 

seeing that the members of her Council who had 

spoken first, had requested that the matter of the 

succession should be taken in hand. ... I told her 

20 I understood that the members of the Lower House, 

notwithstanding the answer given to them, again 

wanted to bring up the matter, and I was surprised at 

the rashness and insolence they exhibited. . . . She 

said that I was right, but she had sent them an order 

25 not to discuss the matter under pain of punishment 

for disobedience, and that all had now obeyed. . . . 

Page 596. 

[Nov. 13th. The Same to the Same.] . . . The 
Queen seeing that they were determined to carry 

188 



Freedom of Speech 

on the discussion about the succession, sent them 
an order not to do so, but as after the order was 
written it was understood that the members thought 
that during the sittings they had full liberty to treat 

s upon matters beneficial to the country, they have 
greatly resented the order, and I am told that the 
Council have used their efforts with the Queen to 
allow Parliament to discuss freely this and other 
matters, since the confirmation of their acts rests 

io with her. . . . 
Page 598. 

[Nov. 25th. The Same to the Same.] 
Notwithstanding the Queen's orders to Parlia- 
ment, respecting their discussion of the succession, 

is and a more recent order that they should not even 
discuss her prohibitions, or enquire as to whether 
they were a violation of the privileges of Parliament, 
they have nevertheless been discussing this last pro- 
hibition, although it was thought they would not 

20 do so. I am told that the insolence of these heretics, 
and their hankering after liberty in everything, is 
greatly disgusting the Queen. . . . 

Since writing the above, I have been informed that 
the Queen sent to Parliament to-day, saying, that 

25 notwithstanding the orders she had given for them 
not to discuss the succession, it was not her inten- 
tion to deprive them of the freedom of speech con- 
ferred by their privileges. It is believed that an 
arrangement has been made that they shall refrain 

189 



Source Problems in English History 

from further considering the succession, and will 
content themselves with vindicating the freedom of 
Parliamentary discussion. 
Page 603. 
s [Dec. 1 6th. The Same to the Same.] 

I was with the Queen yesterday, and to draw her 
out, said amongst other things, that now that sup- 
plies had been voted, she should take means to close 
Parliament. . . . She said . . . she would try to have 
10 it closed before Christmas, although the members 
had begun to deal with religious affairs, which were 
quite foreign to their business. 

3. State Papers, Domestic, Elizabeth, Vol. XLI, No. 30. 
[In Burleigh's hand.] 
is To be declared to the Commons House by the 
Speaker. 

The Queen's Majesty hath commanded me to let 
you understand that whereas shortly after she had 
given her answer to certain of this House, in the 
30 matters intended to have been required of her Maj- 
esty as the necessity of the time and other weighty 
considerations presently moved her, upon the sight 
of certain matters which some persons intended 
under pretence of dealing in the former suit, to pro- 
as pound in this House touching the crown of this 
realm, very unmeet for the time and place, and cer- 
tainly dangerous to the common quietness of her 
subjects now assembled, did by her Majesty's com- 
mandment will you all to stay your proceeding any 

190 



Freedom of Speech 

further in the said matter at this time, and now being 
informed by such of this House as she hath cause to 
credit, that there is not now any determination of 
this House to receive or allow any such dangerous 
5 matter, as she before did doubt, is therefore pleased 
to remove l at this time her former commandments, 
not doubting but you will be answerable in your 
whole doings . . . and thinketh it good that you have 
regard to the expedition of the matters of most 

io moment remaining amongst you, considering the ex- 
pense of the time past and the shortness of that 
which is now to come, the term ending also so short- 
ly as it shall. 
[An addition.] 

is If any person after this message, shall either pres- 
ently or at any time after during this session, in the 
Commons House begin any speech, tending directly 
or indirectly to make any declaration of any partic- 
ular title to the succession of the crown of this realm, 

20 the Speaker shall forthwith in her Majesty's name 
command the party to cease off from any such 
further speaking, and shall declare to the whole 
House that so is her Majesty's express command- 
ment. 

25 This manner of answer her Majesty hath thought 

1 In the MS. the word remove is crossed and deliver you at this point 
inserted in the Queen's handwriting. Evidently Elizabeth was loath 
to yield. That the remove was put back in is clear from what we 
are told in the Commons Journals for November 25th. 

191 



Source Problems in English History 

best without any further answer to the request that 
hath been made to have leave to confer upon the 
liberties of the House, forasmuch as thereof must 
needs have issued more inconvenience than were 
s meet. 

[Nov. 24, 1566. Signed by 11 members of the 
Privy Council.] 
4. D'Ewes's Journals, p. 176. 

[April 21, 1 57 1.] For the said Mr. Strickland 

10 having on Saturday the 14th day of this instant 
April, pressed very earnestly the reformation of the 
Book of Common Prayer, and some ceremonies 
of the Church, was, after the adjournment of the 
House of Commons on that day . . . called be- 

is fore her Majesty's Council . . . and was commanded 
by them to forbear coming to the said House, 
in the mean season, and to attend their further 
pleasure. . . . 
Pages 175-176. 

20 [April 20, 1 57 1.] Mr. Carleton . . . made significa- 
tion how that a member of the House was detained 
from them (meaning Mr. Strickland) by whose com- 
mandment or for what cause he knew not. But for 
as much as he was not now a private man, but to 

25 supply the room, person, and place of a multitude 
specially chosen ... he thought that neither in re- 
gard of the country, which was not to be wronged, 
nor for the liberty of the House, which was not to 
be infringed, we should permit him to be detained 

192 



Freedom of Speech 

from us. But whatsoever the intendment of this 
offence might be, that he should be sent for to the 
bar of that House, there to be heard and there to 
answer. 

s Mr. Treasurer [Mildmay] . . . gave advertisement 
to be wary in our proceedings, and neither to venture 
further than our assured warrant might stretch nor 
to hazard our good opinion with her Majesty on any 
doubtful cause. . . . He further said that he [Mr. 

io Strickland] was in no sort stayed for any word or 
speech by him in that place offered; but for the 
exhibiting of a bill into the House against the pre- 
rogative of the Queen, which was not to be tolerated. 
. . . And lastly he concluded that oft it had been seen 

is that speeches have been examined and considered 

of 

Mr. Yelverton . . . said the precedent was perilous, 
and though in this happy time of lenity, among so 
good and honorable personages, under so gracious 

20 a prince, nothing of extremity or injury was to be 
feared; yet the times might be altered, and what 
now is permitted, hereafter might be construed as 
of duty, and enforced even on this ground of the 
present permission. . . . He shewed it was fit for 

as princes to have their prerogatives, but yet the same 
to be straitened within reasonable limits. . . . He 
further said that the speech uttered in that place, 
and the offer made of the bill, was not to be con- 
demned as evil; for that if there were anything in 

i93 



Source Problems in English History 

the Book of Common Prayer, either Jewish, Turk- 
ish, or Popish, the same was to be reformed. . . . 

Mr. Fleetwood * . . . said then that of experience 
he could report of a man that was called to account 

5 of his speech in the 5th [year] of this Queen 2 . . . what 
he had learned in the Parliament Rolls he thought 
convenient should be known and considered of. In 
the time of Henry IV. a bishop of the Parliament was 
committed to prison by commandment of the King; 

10 the Parliament resolved to be suitors for him. 3 And 
in King Henry V. the Speaker himself was com- 
mitted, and, with him another of the House; 4 the 
House thereupon stayed, but remedy they had none, 

1 Fleetwood was a few days later to be made Recorder of London, 
is through Leicester's influence, and no doubt in this speech was try- 
ing to please the Court. 

2 This may refer to Paul Wentworth, who had been one of those 
most persistent in 1566 in discussing the question of succession, or it 
may refer to the very interesting case of James Dalton, whose 

20 case was referred to the Commons by Elizabeth the very day after 
her message of Nov. 25, 1566. Dalton had talked about the Queen 
of the Scots (see Cal. of the MSS. of the Marquis of Salisbury, I, p. 
341, and Cal. State Papers, Dom., 1547-1580, p. 283). 

3 This is an allusion to the case of Thomas Merke, Bishop of 
25 Carlisle, who was said on Henry IV. 's accession to have made a 

speech in the Lords in favor of Richard and to have been imprisoned 
for it. It is exceedingly doubtful if the bishop was imprisoned for 
any speech in Parliament; indeed, it is not certain that he made a 
speech. 

30 * This is undoubtedly a mistaken allusion to the imprisonment 
of Speaker Thorpe and William Rail in 1453 in the reign of Henry 
VI. The Commons were suitors for Thorpe's release, but the 
privilege involved was freedom from arrest rather than freedom 
of speech. The Lords decided that Thorpe should remain in prison 

35 and the Commons elected a new Speaker. 

194 



Freedom of Speech 

other than to be suitors to the King for them; 
whereupon he resolved, that the only and whole 
help of the House for ease of their grief in this case 
was to be humble suitors to his Majesty, and neither 
s send for him, nor demand him of right. 

During which speech the Council whispered to- 
gether, and thereupon the Speaker moved that the 
House should make stay of any further consulta- 
tion thereupon, 
io [April 2 1 st.] . . . The above mentioned Mr. Strick- 
land did this Forenoon, (upon an advertisement, as 
it should seem, from her Majesty's Council) repair 
again to the said House, soon after it was set. And 
coming just upon the time, when the foregoing Bill for 
is coming to Church and receiving the Communion, was 
in the referring to Committees, the said House did 
in witness of their joy for the restitution of one 
of their said members . . . presently nominate him 
one of the said committees. . . . 
20 5. D'Ewes's Journals, p. 236. 
Pages 236-244. 

[Feb. 8, 1576.] Peter Wentworth . . . was for un- 
reverent and undutiful words uttered by him in 
this House of our sovereign lady the Queen's Majesty 
zs sequestered, that the House might proceed to con- 
ference and consideration of his said speech. 
Peter Wentworth 's Speech. 

[Feb. 8, 1576.] I find written in a little volume 
these words. . . . Sweet is the name of liberty, but 

i95 



Source Problems in English History 

the thing itself a value beyond all inestimable 
treasure. So much the more it behoveth us to take 
care lest we contenting ourselves with the sweet- 
ness of the name, lose and forego the thing, being 

s of the greatest value that can come unto this noble 
realm. . . . There is nothing so necessary for the 
preservation of the prince and state as free speech, 
and without it [it] is a scorn and mockery to call it 
a Parliament House. . . . Two things do great hurt 

io in this place . . . the one is a rumour which runneth 
about the House and this it is, take heed what you 
do, the Queen's Majesty liketh not such a matter; 
whosoever prefereth it, she will be offended with 
him. . . . The other : sometimes a message is brought 

is into the House either of commanding or inhibiting, 
very injurious to the freedom of speech and con- 
sultation. I would to God, Mr. Speaker, that these 
two were buried in hell. . . . 

The King ought not to be under man but under 

20 God and under the law, because the law maketh him 
a King x . . . and thereunto was her Majesty sworn 
at her coronation, as I have heard learned men in 
this place sundry times affirm; unto the which I 
doubt not but her Majesty will for her honour and 

as conscience sake have special regard; for free speech 
and conscience in this place are granted by a special 

1 Bracton, Bk. I, ch. VIII, p. 5. But the King himself ought not 
to be subject to man, but subject to the law, for the law makes the 
King. 

196 



Freedom of Speech 

law, as that without the which the prince and state 
cannot be preserved or maintained. . . . 

A message Mr. Speaker brought the last sessions 
into the House, that we should not deal in any mat- 
s ters of religion, but first to receive from the bishops. 
Surely this was a doleful message. . . . 

[Wentworth said many other things in criticism 
of the Queen and of her Councilors.] 

Extract from Wentworth 's Examination before a 

io Committee of the Commons, on the 8th of February 
for the speech made that day. 

. . . And yet I will assure your Honours that twenty 
times and more, when I walked in my grounds re- 
volving this speech to prepare against this day, my 

is own fearful conceit did say unto me, that this speech 
would carry me to the place whither I shall now go, 
and fear would have moved me to have put it out; 
then I weighed whether in good conscience, and the 
duty of a faithful subject, I might keep myself out 

20 of prison, and not to warn my prince from walking 
in a dangerous course . . . herewith all I was made 
bold and went forward as your Honours heard, yet 
when I uttered those words in the House, that there 
was none without fault, no, not our noble Queen, 

25 I paused and beheld all your countenances and saw 

■ plainly that those words did amaze you all . . . and 
fear bade me to put out those words that followed, 
for your countenances did assure me that not one 
of you would stay me of my journey; yet the con- 

197 



Source Problems in English History 

sideration of a good conscience and of a faithful 
subject did make me bold to utter it . . . and I praise 
God for it, and if it were to do again I would with 
the same mind speak it again. 

s [The Committee, if we may judge from its chairman, 
showed itself inclined to criticize Wentworth for his 
severe forms of expression, but seemed on the whole very 
friendly and markedly willing to admit his allegation in 
a general way. They were unable to secure from him 

io any admission of a fault. In consequence they recom- 
mended that he be committed to the Tower to remain 
until "this House should have further consideration of 
him." — C. J., I, p. 104.] 

Page 244. 
15 The said Mr. Wentworth was by the Queen's special 
favour restored again to his liberty and place in the 
House on Monday the 12 th day of March ensuing. 

6. Commons Journal, I, p. 118. 

[Jan. 20, 1580.] This day the House being assem- 
20 bled . . . and attending her Majesty's coming to the 
Higher House, went then up with Mr. Speaker. . . . 
And my Lord Chancellor in his oration did amongst 
other things give a special admonition unto this 
House [Commons] not to deal with matters touching 
25 her Majesty's person or estate or touching religion. 

7. D'Ewes's Journals. 
Page 474. 

[Feb. 26, 1593.] Mr. Morrice, Attorney of the 

Court of Wards, moveth the House touching the 

30 hard courses of the bishops and ordinaries and 



Freedom of Speech 

other ecclesiastical judges in their courts, used tow- 
ards sundry learned and godly ministers and preach- 
ers of this realm by way of inquisition, subscription 
and binding absolution, 
s [Several speeches made about it.] 

Then Sir Robert Cecil [of the Privy Council] spake 
and said. . . . What the bill containeth I am ignorant 
of; and whether to allow of it or not, I will suspend 
my opinion. To say the truth, the man that offered 

*° it was learned and wise, and one whom I love; yet 
a bill to be offered and enforced in this sort being of 
such effect, I know not how to allow of it. For her 
Majesty had straitly forbidden to meddle in such 
cases. . . . For the bill I protest I know it not; 

is but it seemed to contain things needful. Wherefore 
it were fittest it should be commended to her Maj- 
esty, and so recommended unto us. 

[The Speaker asks that it be committed to him 
to consider of it, and promises that he will keep it 

2° with all secrecy.] 

Hereupon the House was in question whether it 
should be committed to the Speaker only, or to the 
Privy Council and him. . . . Therefore upon a motion 
made by Mr. Wroth, it was agreed that Mr. Speaker 

25 should have it. 

[Feb. 28th.] Mr. Speaker stood up and said, that 
he had a message to deliver from her Majesty. 
[Says that he had two bills delivered to him yester- 
day to consider of.] 

199 



Source Problems in English History 

A little after I had perused the bills, I was sent for 
by a special messenger from her Majesty. Coming in 
her royal presence I was commanded to deliver these 
words from her most excellent Majesty unto the 

s body of the realm. . . . Her Majesty's pleasure being 
then [at the beginning of Parliament] delivered unto 
us by the Lord Keeper, it was not meant we should 
meddle with matters of state or causes ecclesiastical 
. . . she wondered that any could be of so high com- 

io mandment to attempt (I use her own words) a thing 
so expressly contrary to that which she had for- 
bidden. Wherefore with this she was highly of- 
fended. . . . Her Majesty's present charge and ex- 
press commandment is, that no bill touching the 

is said matters of state or reformation in causes ec- 
clesiastical be exhibited. And upon my allegiance 
I am commanded, if any such bill be exhibited not 
to read it. 
8. Townshend, Historical Collections. 

20 Page 37. 

The Queen's Reply through the Lord Keeper to 
the Speaker's demands for Privilege at the Begin- 
ning of Parliament, Feb. 19, 1593. 

To your three demands the Queen answereth, 

25 liberty of speech is granted you; but how far this 
is to be thought on. There be two things of most 
necessity, and those two do most harm; which are 
wit and speech; the one exercised in invention, the 
other is uttering things invented. Privilege of 

200 



Freedom of Speech 

speech is granted; but you must know what privi- 
lege you have, not to speak everyone what he listeth, 
or what cometh in his brain to utter, but your privi- 
lege is to say yea or no. Wherefore, Mr. Speaker, 

s her Majesty's pleasure is, that if you perceive any 
idle heads which will not stick to hazard their own 
estates, which will meddle with reforming of the 
church and transforming of the commonwealth, and 
do exhibit any bills to such purpose ; that you receive 

io them not until they be viewed and considered of by 
those whom it is fitter should consider of such things 
and can better judge of them. 
9. Townshend. 
Page 54. 

is [Feb. 24, 1593.] This day Mr. Peter Wentworth 
and Sir Henry Bromley delivered a petition unto 
the Lord Keeper, therein desiring the Lords of the 
Upper House to be suppliants with, them of the 
Lower House unto her Majesty for entailing the 

20 succession to the crown; whereof a bill was ready 
drawn by them. Her Majesty was highly displeased 
therewith, after she knew thereof, as a matter con- 
trary to her former strait commandment, and 
charged the Council to call the parties before them. 

as Sir Thomas Heneage presently sent for them; and 
after speech with them commanded them to for- 
bear coming to the Parliament, and not to go out 
from their several lodgings. 

About this matter in the beginning of the Parlia- 
201 



Source Problems in English History 

ment was a committee appointed to be had of many 
wise, grave, and ancient Parliament men as were of 
the House; but at this time few met at the place 
appointed, at least such men as were expected. 

5 ... The day after being Sunday and Feb. 25th, 
and the House sat not; yet the aforesaid Mr. Went- 
worth, Sir Henry Bromley, and some others, were 
called before the Lord Burleigh. . . . Lord Buckhurst, 
and Sir Thomas Heneage, who entreated them very 

10 favorably, and with good speeches; but so highly 
was her Majesty offended that they must needs 
commit them, and so they told them. Whereupon 
Mr. Peter Wentworth was sent prisoner to the Tower, 
Sir Henry Bromley and one Mr. Richard Stevens . . . 

is were sent to the Fleet, as also Mr. Welch the other 
knight for Worcestershire. 



PART B 

FREEDOM OF SPEECH UNDER THE STUARTS 

It can readily be seen that freedom of speech had made 
20 a good deal of progress under Elizabeth. Not because 
Elizabeth made concessions — for she made few of 
them — but because, thanks to the persistence of Paul and 
Peter Wentworth and men like them, the question had 
become an issue. Peter Wentworth had given it pub- 
25 licity; he had done more, by spending days and nights 
in prison he had made it a good cause. Parliament had 
been aroused, even the Privy Councilors had scarcely 



Freedom of Speech 

been able to forbear a discreet sympathy. Not only was 
the privilege being more naturally assumed in theory, but 
it was being more frequently adopted in practice. Never 
had the Commons talked so freely, never had they better 

5 reason. They feared a successor to Elizabeth who might 
carry the country back to the religious polity of Mary. 
The most of them were distressed at episcopal innovation 
and shocked at increasing persecution of those who did 
not conform. They could not remain silent. All the 

io active pressure of Puritan zeal was behind the demand 
for liberty of discussion. And there was a new con- 
sciousness which would give to that demand a general 
sanction, a sense of the meaning of limited government, 
a sense that "this sceptred isle . . . this dear, dear land, 

is dear for her reputation throughout the world" deserved 

the "envy of less happier nations" not only because its 

kings were renowned, but because they were under law. 

Into such a land came a Scottish king, full of bookish 

notions about the divine right of kings whose state is 

20 the "supremest thing on earth," cocksure in his opinions 
and utterly unaware of the English discovery of limited 
monarchy. On the issue of free speech, if on no other, 
there was sure to be trouble. 

i. Parliamentary History, I, pp. 1033-34. Apology 
25 of the Commons. [June 20, 1604.] 

. . . Now concerning the ancient rights of the sub- 
jects of this realm, chiefly consisting in the privileges 
of this House of Parliament, the misinformation 
openly delivered to your Majesty hath been in three 
30 things: 1st. That we held not privileges of right, 
but of grace only, renewed every Parliament by way 
of donature upon petition, and so to be limited. 
14 203 



Source Problems in English History 

[The two other points do not concern this subject.] 
. . . We most truly avouch, ist. That our privileges 
and liberties are our right and due inheritance, no 
less than our very lands and goods. Secondly, 
5 That they cannot be withheld from us, denied, or 
impaired, but with apparent wrong to the whole 
state of the realm. Thirdly, and that our making 
of request, in the entrance of Parliament to enjoy 
our privilege is an act only of manners, and doth 

io weaken our right no more than our suing to the 
King for our lands by petition. 

In the first Parliament of the happy reign of your 
Majesty the privileges of our House and therein 
the liberties and stability of the whole kingdom, have 

is been more universally and dangerously impugned 
than ever (as we suppose), since the beginnings of 
parliaments. — Besides that in regard of her sex and 
age which we had great cause to tender, and much 
more upon care to avoid all trouble . . . these actions 

20 were then passed over, which we hoped in succeeding 
times of freer access to your Highness of renowned 
grace and justice, to redress, restore and rectify. 
Whereas contrarywise in this Parliament . . . not 
privileges, but the whole freedom of Parliament . . . 

25 have been mainly hewed at us. . . . Secondly the free- 
dom of our speech prejudiced by often reproofs. 
Thirdly, particular persons noted with taunt and 
disgrace who have spoken their consciences in mat- 
ters proposed to the House. . . . 

204 



Freedom of Speech 

What cause we your poor Commons have to watch 
over our privileges is manifest in itself to all men. 
The prerogatives of princes may easily and do daily 
grow. The privileges of the subject are for the most 
s part at an everlasting stand. They may be by 
good providence and care preserved, but being once 
lost, are not recovered but with much disquiet. 

[In the Bate's case in 1606 the Barons of the Exchequer 
gave a decision that the crown could levy impositions — 

10 i. e., certain added duties, without consent of Parliament. 
In consequence the Lord Treasurer in 160S issued a "book 
of rates." Parliament found its control over the purse- 
strings seriously lessened, and lessened by a means hard 
to circumvent — a court decision. When it set about in 

l s 1 6 10 to discuss the matter the King sent word "not 
to dispute of the King's prerogative in imposing upon 
merchandise exported or imported." A few days later 
he received the Commons and repeated his injunction. 
This proved "distasteful" to the Commons and "divers 

20 speeches were made."] 

2. Parliamentary Debates in 1610. 

Pages 37-39- 

Mr. Fuller repeated part of a speech that was 

formerly spoken by Mr. Whitelocke. 1 . . . That the 

2s special privilege of Parliament is to debate freely 

of all things that shall concern any of the subjects in 

1 Sir James Whitelocke (father of the more famous Bulstrode), 

who was one of the most vigorous opponents of the King in this and 

the next Parliament (see his Liber Famelicus, Camden Soc., 1858, 

30 p. 24), was later as one of the judges of the King's Bench to concur 

in the decision against freedom of speech. 

205 



Source Problems in English History 

particular, or the commonwealth in general without 
any restraint or inhibition. Secondly it was said [by 
Sir Thomas Went worth] that in all ages the King's 
prerogative (which was the matter then in question) 
5 hath been examined and debated in Parliament. . . . 
Also it was said that in all courts of justice at West- 
minster the King's prerogative is there ordinarily 
disputed, and therefore may much more be debated 
in Parliament, being the highest court of justice in 

io the realm. . . . 

But Sir Francis Bacon took upon him to answer 
these reasons. . . . He said that he had been a Par- 
liament man ever since he was 17 years old, within 
which time he did observe that the Parliament had 

15 received divers inhibitions from the Queen to re- 
strain them from debating the matter then in ques- 
tion; wherein he took this difference, that if the 
matter debated concerned the right or interest of 
any subject or the commonwealth, if in that case 

20 an inhibition came, he, for his part, would not 
advise the House to desist, but to inform the King 
of the liberty of the House, and so to proceed. But 
if the matter in question were an essential thing 
which concerned the prerogative and the power of 

25 the crown, then the House did always desist from 
proceeding any further upon such inhibitions re- 
ceived. He gave instances of divers in his time. . . . 
In answer to this speech divers stood up. . . . But 
if it be true, as Mr. Solicitor confessed, that the 

206 



Freedom of Speech 

Parliament may not be inhibited to debate of any- 
thing that concerns the right of particular subjects, 
much less can they be inhibited in this matter of 
impositions, which concerns the rights and interests 

5 of all the subjects in general. . . . 

It was moved therefore that, as the King had 
granted us freedom of speech at the beginning of 
the Parliament concerning all matters of the com- 
monwealth ... so we should by a Petition of Right 

io make known our liberties to his Majesty, and desire 
him to remove the impediment. 
3. Commons Journals, I, p. 431. (Petition to the 
Sovereign, May 23, 16 10.) 
Most gracious sovereign: . . . First we hold it 

15 an ancient, general, and undoubted right of Par- 
liament to debate freely all matters which do 
properly concern the subject and his right or state; 
which freedom of debate being once foreclosed, 
the essence of the liberty of Parliament is withal 

20 dissolved. 

And whereas in this case the subject's right on 
the one side and your Majesty's prerogative on the 
other cannot possibly be severed in debate of either; 
we allege that your Majesty's prerogatives of that 

25 kind, concerning directly the subject's right and in- 
terest are daily handled and discussed in all courts 
at Westminster, and have been ever freely debated 
upon all fit occasions both in this and all former 
Parliaments without restraint. . . . 

207 



Source Problems in English History . 

We therefore your Highness's loyal and dutiful 
Commons, not swerving from the approved steps of 
our ancestors, most humbly and instantly beseech 
your gracious Majesty that ... we may, according 

s to the undoubted right and liberty of Parliament, 
proceed in our intended course of a full examination 
of these new impositions. . . . 
4 (cont.). Parliamentary Debates, 1610, pp. 41-42. 
[May 24th. The King's Answer.] ... He said his 

10 message was not absolutely to forbid us from treat- 
ing of the impositions, but only until we heard his 
further pleasure; not with any intent for ever to 
restrain us. . . . 

For our Petition he granted it as we had set it 

15 down ourselves. 

[The Commons in 16 14 ("Addled Parliament") were 
more unfavorable to James than in any preceding Parlia- 
ment. It soon became evident they intended to vote no 
grant until the grievance of impositions was remedied. 

20 When Neile, Bishop of Lincoln, attacked them in the 
Lords for meddling with matters that did not belong to 
them and talked about seditious speeches they might 
utter if they should confer with the Lords, the Commons 
took umbrage. The Lords, after they had been given 

25 clear proofs of the Bishop's speech, called upon him to 
explain. He declared that his meaning had been mis- 
understood. But the Commons, not fully satisfied with 
him, or with the Lords' attitude in the affair, pressed the 
attack.] 

30 5. Calendar of the State Papers, Domestic, 1611-18. 

208 



Freedom of Speech 

Page 236. 

[London, June 9, 16 14. Chamberlain to Carleton.] 

The Commons refusing satisfaction from the 
Bishop of Lincoln and growing insolent, the King 
s sent them word he would dissolve them unless 
they attended at once to his wants. Bold speeches 
of several members on which a commission was issued 
to dissolve the Parliament. The time was short, 
and discontents so great that they took no steps 
10 to mend matters, the House being more like a cock- 
pit than a council, and on the 1st the House was 
dissolved, and some members summoned to the 
Council, and sent thence to the Tower. 

Page 237. 
13 [St. Bartholomewes (London), June 16, 16 14. Sir 
Ralph Win wood to Carleton.] 

Never saw so much faction and passion as in the 
late unhappy Parliament, nor so little reverence 
of a King. . . . The impositions were the great griev- 
20 ance, also a speech of the Bishop of Lincoln taxing 
the Commons with sedition, and the King's messages 
were thought to abridge the liberty of the House. 
The breakneck was some seditious speeches which 
made the King impatient, and it was whispered to 
25 him that they would have his life and that of his 
favorites before they had done, on which he dis- 
solved them. Four of their tribunes, Sir Walter 
Chute, Chris. Neville, Hoskins, and Wentworth, are 
sent to prison. . . . 

209 



Source Problems in English History 

[James's son-in-law, Frederick, head of the south Ger- 
man electorate known as the Palatinate, had in 1619 ac- 
cepted the crown of Bohemia from the estates of that 
country who had deposed the Archduke Ferdinand. Fred- 

s erick was defeated and driven out of Bohemia by the 
imperial forces, Ferdinand had now become emperor. 
Not only was Bohemia lost, but the Palatinate was 
invaded from the west by Spanish troops. These rapid 
moves in the Thirty Years' War alarmed James, who 

10 called Parliament together to get money for a war against 
Spain and then concluded with surprising fatuity that 
he could gain what he wished, the security of the Palati- 
nate, by negotiation, perhaps by the marriage of his son 
Charles to the infanta of Spain. Parliament, Puritan and 

is anti-Spanish, had no will for such a policy and was dis- 
inclined toward watchful waiting. In any case they 
wished to discuss the policy. James wished money.] 

6. Sir Edward Nicholas, Proceedings and Debates of 
the House of Commons, 1620-21, II. 
20 Pages 185-199. 

[Nov. 21, 162 1.] The Lord Keeper. . . . For the 
form of imitation for this assembly, he saith that 
we should imitate the ancient times and form of 
Parliament, and avoid all long harangues, all ma- 
ss licious or cunning diversions, that we should not 
attend our domestic business, till we had furnished 
and finished the business of the Palatinate, and pro- 
vided first to send speedily thither some aid or 
supply. 
30 [Nov. 23d.] Mr. Alford saith that the King hath 
commanded by two proclamations that none should 

210 



Freedom of Speech 

meddle or talk of state business ; and yet hath again 
commanded by the three lords that we should not 
meddle but with the business of the Palatinate. 
That this is a precedent wherein we are warily to 

s proceed; for hereafter the King may else say we 
shall meddle only with this or that business, and not 
with other things, and so we lose the privilege of a 
free Parliament. He would that we should hasten 
to dispatch the business of the House; for hereafter 

io if we shall touch on anything for the good of the 
commonwealth his Majesty may be incensed and 
so dissolve the Parliament. . . . 

[The House took up the question of the privilege of one 

of its members, Sir Edwin Sandys, who had been im- 

15 prisoned for his efforts to defeat intrigues against the 

Virginia Company. The Commons suspected that he 

was suffering for what he had said in Parliament.] 

Sir Thomas Wentworth saith that he hath observed 

that this House hath ever used to debate with jeal- 

ao ousy the privileges of this House, but we have 

ever done it with loss of our privileges rather than 

gain. 

[On the 29th of November the Commons resolved to 
prepare a petition to be sent to the King. On December 
as 1st the form of the petition was brought in by the sub- 
committee. That petition emphasized the danger from 
Spain, from the Pope, and especially from Catholic de- 
signs in England, and urged that the King should join 
with other Protestant states in supporting the Elector 
30 Palatine against Spain, and that Prince Charles should 

211 



Source Problems in English History 

be married to one of his own religion. It was pointed out 
by the court party that such a petition dealing with war, 
marriage, and religion would incur the King's displeasure, 
and the answer from the supporters of the petition was 
s that there were abundant precedents, even in the time of 
Elizabeth, for dealing with such matters, and that the 
King by asking Parliament to speak freely of the griev- 
ances of the kingdom and by saying in his speech that 
there was no hope for peace, had invited such a discussion, 
io After the petition had been adopted and a committee 
named to take it to the King, the Commons received a 
letter from the King as follows] : 

Page 277. 

[Dec. 4, 1 62 1. The King to the Speaker of the 
15 House of Commons.] 

We have heard by divers reports . . . that the far 
distance of our person at this time . . . hath embold- 
ened some fiery and popular spirits in our House of 
Commons to debate and argue publicly in matters 
20 far beyond their reach or capacity; and so tending 
to our high dishonor and to the trenching upon 
our prerogative royal. 

You shall therefore acquaint that House with our 
pleasure that none therein shall presume to meddle 
25 with anything concerning our government or mys- 
teries of state, namely not to speak of our dearest 
son's match with the daughter of Spain, nor to 
touch the honor of that King, or any other our 
friends or confederates: and also not to meddle 
30 with any men's particulars which have their due 

212 



Freedom of Speech 

motion in any of our ordinary courts of justice. 
And whereas we hear that they have sent a message 
to Sir Edwin Sandys l to know the reason of his late 
restraint, you shall in our name resolve them that 

s it was not for any misdemeanor of his in Parliament. 
But to put them out of doubt of any question of 
that nature that may arise among them hereafter, 
you shall resolve them in our name that we think 
ourself very free and able to punish any man's mis- 

io demeanors in Parliament, as well during their sitting 
as after; which we mean not to spare hereafter 
upon any occasion of any man's insolent behavior 
there, that shall be ministered unto us. And if 
they have already touched any of these points, which 

is we have forbidden, in any petition of theirs, which 
is to be sent unto us, it is our pleasure that you shall 
tell them, that, except they reform it before it comes 
to our hands, we will not deign the hearing or an- 
swering of it. . . . 

20 Pages 279-283. 

[Dec. 4, 162 1.] Sir William Strode saith, he 
thinketh that our thoughts being now disturbed by 
this message from his Majesty, we are not fit or able 
to debate of anything, till we have considered of it 

25 and digested it; and therefore would have us now 
rise and not so suddenly debate of this business, it 
being of the greatest consequence for our privileges 
that ever came hither. 

1 The debates on the Sandys case have been omitted. 
213 



Source Problems in English History 

[Dec. 5th.] Mr. Delbridge (after a long silence in 
the House) rose up and said. ... As for the privileges 
of this House, touching the Petition we prepared for 
the King, he had as willingly hang under the gallows 

s as fry over a faggot. And therefore, the state of 

our religion standing as it doth, he would have us 

go to the King again and again with our petition. . . . 

Sir Robert Phelips saith that now is the time to 

justify the affection of the people to the King and 

10 to defend the privileges of this House, which our 
ancestors have delivered us, and which we ought to 
preserve for our posterity: — That his ground and 
anchor-hold is the King's word for our liberty of 
speech, delivered here in writing by Mr. Secretary 

is ... he saith he knoweth not what hath caused this 
soul-killing letter from the King. . . . And he desireth 
that there may be a committee appointed to consider 
what, on the like message from former Kings, the 
House hath done, and to consider what we may 

20 do to set us right in the King's favor and to proceed 
without breach of our privileges and liberties, with- 
out which defence we are unworthy of our lives, and 
to look those in the face who sent us hither. . 

Mr. Hakewill. . . . He hath known three the 

25 like storms in this House: the first in 5 Eliz. when 
this House did press her to know her successor, 
which she would by no means declare or have 
spoken of; yet on a petition from this House, her 
Majesty did give us leave to treat of it. 2. That in 

214 



Freedom of Speech 

the same Parliament there was a petition prepared 
as now, to beseech her to marry; and though she 
was much offended at it, yet by our temperance in 
that petition and on a second petition she did give 

s us leave to treat and debate of her marriage here. 
3. That the King heretofore, though at first he sent 
a sharp message to this House when it did begin 
to debate of impositions, yet on better information 
he did give us leave to debate thereof. . . . 

10 [The House goes into committee. A long debate 
ensues.] 

Pages 289-294. 

[Dec. 6th. The Commons to the King.] 

We . . . beseech your most excellent Majesty that 

is the loyalty and dutifulness of as faithful and loving 
subjects as ever . . . lived . . . may not undeservedly 
suffer by the misinformation of uncertain reports. . . 
but that your Majesty would . . . first vouchsafe to 
understand from ourselves, and not from the partial 

»o informations of any others, what our humble dec- 
laration and petition, resolved on by the universal 
voice of the whole House, and proposed, with your 
gracious favor . . . doth contain. . . . And we humbly 
beseech your Majesty that you will not hereafter 

as give credit to private reports against all or any of 
the members of our House, whom the whole have 
not censured, until your Majesty hath been truly 
informed thereof from ourselves. . . . When your 
Majesty had reassembled us in Parliament . . . and 

215 



Source Problems in English History 

did vouchsafe by the mouths of three honorable 
lords to impart to us the weighty occasions moving 
your Majesty thereto, from them we did under- 
stand these particulars. . . . That your Majesty must 
s either abandon your own children or engage your- 
self in a war. . . . And that out of these considerations 
we were called to a war, and forthwith to advise of 
a supply for keeping the forces in the Palatinate 
from disbanding. . . . We thereupon . . . did address 

io ourselves to the service commended to us. And 
although we cannot conceive that the honor and 
safety of your Majesty . . . the patrimony of your 
children, invaded and possessed by their enemy, the 
welfare of religion and state of your kingdom, are 

15 matters at any time unfit for our deepest considera- 
tion in time of Parliament ... we thought it our 
duty to provide for the present supply thereof and 
not only to turn our eyes on a war abroad, but 
to take care for the securing of our peace at home. 

20 ... In the discourse whereof we did not assume to 
ourselves any power to determine of any part 
thereof, nor intended to encroach or intrude on the 
sacred bounds of your prerogative or regal authority 
to whom, and to whom only we humbly acknowledge 

2s that it doth belong to resolve of peace and war, 
and of the marriage of the noble prince your son. 
. . . Our humble suit to your Majesty ... is that 
your Majesty will be graciously pleased to receive at 
the hands of these messengers our former humble 

216 



Freedom of Speech 

declaration and petition. . . .' And whereas your 
Majesty by the general words of your letter seemeth 
to restrain us from intermeddling with matters of 
government or particulars which have their motion 

s in courts of justice . . . and whereas your Majesty's 
letter doth seem to abridge us of the ancient liberty 
of Parliament for freedom of speech, jurisdiction, and 
just censure of the House ... a liberty which we as- 
sure ourselves so wise and so just a King will not 

io infringe (the same being our undoubted right and 
inheritance, received from our ancestors) ... we 
are therefore now again enforced humbly to be- 
seech your Majesty to renew and allow the same 
and thereby take away the doubts and scruples your 

is Majesty's late letter to our Speaker hath brought 
upon us. . . . 
Page 303. 

[Dec. 10th.] Sir Edward Cotze saith that it is on 
this point with us now as it was in the time of some 

20 of the former kings of this realm. In the Parlia- 
ment roll at Westminster in Sancti Hilar ii, Anno 
secundo H. 4, No. II. 25 Jan., the House did petition 
the King that, because it might happen that some 
of the Commons, to please the King and advance 

2s themselves, might relate some things here debated 
of, before it was determined, discussed, or accorded 
of by the Commons, (that) it would please his Maj- 
esty to give no credit to such reports. 1 . . . 

1 See The Historical Setting, p. 165. 
217 



Source Problems in English History 

This record [with the King's answer agreeing to 

the request] is delivered into the House, and it is 

ordered that it shall be entered here in the House in 

French and English, and that every one that will 

5 shall have copies of it. 

Pages 317-327. 

[Dec. 14, 1 62 1. His Majesty's Answer to the 
Apologetic Petition of the House of Commons.] 

. . . Now whereas . . . you tax us in fair terms of 
10 trusting uncertain reports and partial information 
concerning your proceedings, we wish you to re- 
member that we are an old and experienced King, 
needing no such lessons, being in our conscience 
freest of any King alive from hearing or trusting 
is idle reports. . . . 

In the body of your petition you usurp upon our 
prerogative royal and meddle with things far above 
your reach, and then in conclusion, you protest the 
contrary. . . . And whereas ye pretend, that you were 
20 invited to this course by the speeches of three hon- 
orable lords, yet by so much as yourselves repeat of 
their speeches, nothing can be concluded but that 
we were resolved by war to regain the Palatinate, 
if otherwise we could not attain unto it; and you 
as were invited to advise forthwith upon a supply for 
keeping the forces in the Palatinate from disband- 
ing, and to foresee the means for the raising and 
maintaining of the body of an army for that war. 
. . . Ye come after to a direct contradiction to the 

218 



Freedom of Speech 

conclusion of your former petition, saying, "that 
the honor and safety of us and our posterity, and 
the patrimony of our children . . . the welfare of 
religion and state of our kingdom are matters at 
s any time not unfit for your (sic) deepest considera- 
tions in Parliament." To this generality we an- 
swer with the logicians that where all things are 
contained nothing is omitted; so as this plenipo- 
tency of yours invests you in all power upon earth, 
io lacking nothing but the Pope's to have the keys 
also both of heaven and purgatory. . . . 

And whereas ye excuse your touching upon the 
King of Spain . . . and yet affirm that it is without 
any touch to his honor, we cannot wonder enough 
is that ye are so forgetful both of your words and 
writs. For in your former petition ye plainly affirm 
that he affects the temporal monarchy of the whole 
earth. . . . We omit the particular ejaculations of 
some foul-mouthed orators in your House against 
ao the honor of his crown and state. And touching 
your excuse of not determining anything concerning 
the match of our dearest son, but only to tell your 
opinions, and lay it down at our feet; first we de- 
sire to know how you could have presumed to deter- 
as mine in that point without committing of high trea- 
son; and next you cannot deny but your talking of 
his match after that manner was a direct breach of 
our commandment and declaration out of our own 
mouth at the first sitting down of this Parliament. . . . 
15 219 



Source Problems in English History 

These are unfit things to be handled in Parliament, 
except your King should require it of you: for who 
can have wisdom to judge of things of that nature, 
but such as are daily acquainted with the partic- 

s ulars of treaties. . . . And besides, the intermeddling 
in Parliament in matters of peace or war, and mar- 
riage of our dearest son, would be such a diminu- 
tion to us and to our crown in foreign countries, as 
would make any prince neglect to treat with us. . . . 

io And although we cannot allow of the style, calling 
it "Your ancient and undoubted right and inheri- 
tance," but would rather have wished that ye had 
said, that your privileges were derived from the 
grace and permission of our ancestors and us (for 

is most of them grow from precedents, which shows 
rather a toleration than inheritance) yet we are 
pleased to give our royal assurance, that, as long 
as you shall continue to contain yourselves within 
the limits of your duty and respect to us. . . .we 

20 will be as careful to preserve your lawful liberties 
and privileges, as ever any our predecessors were, 
nay, as to preserve our own royal prerogative: so 
as your House shall only need to beware to trench 
upon the prerogative of the^gpfwn, which would en- 

25 force us, or any just King toretrench them of their 
privileges. 
Page 331. 

[Dec. 15, 1 62 1.] ... Sir Francis Seymour saith. . . . 
That though we now decline the farther disputing 

220 



Freedom of Speech 

of the match, the matter of religion and war, yet he 
would have it here expressed and declared, that the 
consideration of the religion of this kingdom, the 
safety of his Majesty's person and this kingdom are 

s not matters out of the cognizance of this House. . . . 

Mr. Christopher Brook saith that we have our 

privileges and liberties by prescription, time out 

mind, and not by toleration. He would have a 

protestation entered in the House that we claim our 

10 privileges as an inheritance and not as granted 
from Kings to us. . . . 

Sir Robert Phelips. ... As for our privileges since 
his Majesty hath said we hold our liberties by the 
grace of princes, and not by a right descended unto 

15 us ... he thinketh that we are now to do something 
more in this point than to let them thus rest. . . . 
He would have a select committee appointed for 
this purpose. . . . 

Mr. Thomas Crewe. . . . That he thinketh the walls 

20 of this House would speak against us, if we should 
sit still and leave his Majesty in dislike of our styling 
our liberties our undoubted ancient right and in- 
heritance. . . . 

Sir Edward Coke. . . . That the liberties and privi- 

2 s leges of Parliament are the mother and life of all 
laws, and laws are in Parliament in summo gradu [in 
the highest degree]. Whereas the King saith he 
liketh not our styling of our liberties our ancient in- 
heritance, yet he will maintain and give us leave to 

221 



Source Problems in English History 

enjoy the same, which indeed striketh at the root of 
all our privileges. Consuetudo regni [the custom of 
the kingdom] is the law of the kingdom. . . . 
Mr. Secretary saith it was never in his Majesty's 

s mind or opinion to question our privileges, but it 

was only the slip of a pen in the end of a long answer. 

That he would have a committee to consider hereof. 

Pages 339-342. 

[Dec. 17, 1621. The King's Letter to Mr. Sec- 

10 retary Calvert.] 

. . . The plain truth is that we cannot with patience 
endure our subjects to use such anti-monarchical 
words to us, concerning their liberties, except they 
had subjoined that they were granted unto them 

is by the grace and favor of our predecessors. But as 
for our intention herein, God knows we never meant 
to deny them any lawful privileges, that ever that 
House enjoyed in our predecessors' times . . . for 
whatsoever liberties or privileges they enjoy by any 

20 law or statute shall be ever inviolably preserved by 
us, and we hope our posterity will imitate our foot- 
steps therein. And whatsoever privileges they en- 
joy by long custom and uncontrolled and lawful 
precedents, we will likewise be as careful to preserve 

as them. . . . Let them go on cheerfully in their busi- 
nesses, rejecting the curious wrangling of lawyers 
upon words and syllables. . . . 

Mr. Secretary saith that it is not strange that the 
business of the House (which is so commonly spoken 

222 



Freedom of Speech 

of abroad in the town) doth come to his Majesty's 
ear; and he thinketh whosoever hath informed his 
Majesty hereof, hath done a good office to the 
House. . . . 

s Sir Edward Coke saith that we have now by this 
last message (as he conceiveth) an allowance of our 
privileges, which indeed are ours by law, by cus- 
tom, by precedent, and by act of Parliament. That 
he thinketh, if we did set down our privileges and 

io liberties, it would clear us of all those rubs. . . . 
Pages 359-360. 

[Dec. 18, 162 1. The Protestation.] 
That the liberties, franchises, privileges, and juris- 
dictions of Parliament are the ancient and un- 

15 doubted birthright and inheritance of the subjects 
of England; and that the arduous and urgent 
affairs concerning the King, state and defence of 
the realm, and of the Church of England, and the 
making and maintenance of laws, and redress of 

20 mischiefs and grievances, which daily happen within 
this realm, are proper subjects and matter of counsel 
and debate in Parliament : and that in the handling 
and proceeding of those businesses every member 
of the House hath, and of right ought to have . . . 

25 liberty and freedom to treat of those matters, in 
such order, as in their judgments shall seem fittest 
. . . and that if any of the said members be com- 
plained of and questioned for anything said or done 
in Parliament, the same is to be showed to the 

223 



Source Problems in English History 

King by the advice and consent of all the Commons 
assembled in Parliament, before the King give 
credence to any private information. 

It is ordered . . . that this protestation shall be 
s here entered forthwith in the book of the House, 
and there to remain as of record. 

7. Calendar of State Papers, Venetian, 2621-1623. 
Page 183. 

Girolamo Lando (Venetian Ambassador in 
10 England) to the Doge and Senate. Dec. 23, 

162 1. [From the Secret Despatches in the 
Venetian Archives.] 
I enclose a copy of the remarkable letter written 
by his Majesty to bridle the Parliament. I hear 
15 that the Ambassador Gondomar [the Spanish am- 
bassador] had it the day before it was read in the 
assembly . . . 

With these differences and passions so heated 
as they are at present, it seems to me that they are 
20 approaching a very dangerous crisis. I hear on good 
authority that one of those most frequently about him 
[King James] told him that if he does not now stand 
upon his dignity and authority and does not do what 
he said he would in this letter, he will have to submit 
25 to their rule ever after, and will no longer be King 
except in show and appearance only, like the chief of 
a republic, without authority. 

8. Calendar State Papers, Domestic, James I., 161 g- 

23- 

224 



Freedom of Speech 

Page 326. 

[Dec. 30 ( ?), 162 1.] Account of the King's coming to 
Council, and calling for the Clerk of Parliament to 
produce the Journal Book of the Commons, in which 

5 was recorded the protestation of privileges. He de- 
clared himself offended with it, because it was drawn 
up after his repeated assertions of his wish to pre- 
serve all the liberties of the House, and at the very 
time when he was receiving a deputation from them 

10 and promising compliance with their wishes for an 
adjournment, and because it was put to the ques- 
tion at six o'clock at night, when not a third of the 
members were present; also that it contains words 
which may be construed so as to invade most of the 

is prerogatives of the crown; therefore in a full as- 
sembly of Council and in presence of the Judges, 
his Majesty erased it from the Journal Book with 
his own hand, and ordered an Act of Council to be 
entered thereof. 

20 [Sir Edward Coke, Sir Robert Phelips, and Sir Edward 
Mallory were committed to the Tower, and the first two 
questioned by members of the Council about their speeches 
in Parliament.] 

9. Notes of the Parliament of 1626 (Whitelocke) . 

25 [On May 8, 1626, the Commons instituted impeach- 
ment proceedings against the Duke of Buckingham, min- 
ister of Charles I., and asked for a conference with the 
Lords. In that conference eight members of the Com- 
mons were commissioned to be managers for the Lower 

30 House — i. e., to present the charges made by that House. 

225 



Source Problems in English History 

Sir Dudley Digges the first speaker unwisely mentioned 
the death of James I., who was believed by many people 
at that time to have died from the effects of a plaster ad- 
ministered to him, and alluded to Buckingham's supposed 
s part in that transaction. It was reported to the King 
that Digges had said "that he would therein spare the 
honor of the King." Sir John Eliot was the last speaker 
and made a very bitter attack upon Buckingham, com- 
paring him to Sejanus, the minister of the Roman Em- 

io peror Tiberius. "If he is Sejanus" the King was re- 
ported to have said, "then I am Tiberius." Eliot had 
said many other hard things. When the Commons met 
on May nth, Digges and Eliot were absent, and it was 
soon discovered that they had been called to the door 

is and taken to the Tower.] 

[May 1 2th.] Mr. Speaker put the House in mind 
where they left yesterday. The House cry, No. 

Mr. Wilde. . . . Bewail the want of two whose 
excellent abilities, whose indefatigable labors for pre- 
3o serving these liberties have been fresh in our mem- 
ories. The cause of their absence I cannot but be 
bold to desire to know. . . . Moves we may consider 
of some way of remonstrance or declaration to the 
King concerning this, and desire we may have our 
as members again, and that we may punish them if 
they have done any offence within our cognizance. 
That we appoint a committee for this. 

After long silence Mr. Speaker riseth and said, I 
am sorry to see so general sadness and silence. The 
30 House cry, sit down ! But the Speaker goes on and 
repeats the motion. 

??6 



Freedom of Speech 

[The] Vice-Chamberlain [Sir Dudley Carleton] . . . 
Our evils are the losses of some members of our 
House; the causes a high offence the King takes at 
. . . words that passed in that speech, some words in 

5 the prologue [spoken by Digges] ' ' that he would then 
spare the honor of the King that is now living." . . . 
I cannot say these were the words but some strangers 
in our Court would say it, and this depends upon 
the point of true or false information. . . . This man- 

io ner of Parliament hath been almost in every state in 
Christendom, but hath been altered by new counsels. 
To preserve this liberty the medium between right 
of prerogative and tumultuary liberty must be ob- 
served. 1 Moves that the Speaker may leave this 

is chair and we resolve ourselves into a committee 
for consideration of the remedies. 

Resolved that we shall lay aside an other business 
till we are righted in our liberties. And the House 
shall presently resolve into a committee to consider 

20 of the ways and means to effect it. 

1 In another account (Pari. Hist., VII, 160) Carleton's implica- 
tions appear more clearly. "In all Christian kingdoms you know 
that Parliaments were in use anciently, by which their kingdoms 
were governed in a most flourishing manner until the monarchs 

as began to show their own strength, and seeing the turbulent spirits 
of their Parliaments, at length they, little by little, began to stand 
upon their prerogatives, and at last overthrew the Parliaments, 
except here only with us." Carleton went on to compare the miser- 
able state of foreign peasants with those in England "like so many 

30 ghosts and not men," and hinted that the same might come true 
in England. But the account here quoted is probably more nearly 
wh^t Carleton said. (See Lonsdale MSS., p. 23.) 

227 



Source Problems in English History 

Mr. Rolles takes the Chair. 

Mr. Wandesford. I think this root hath sprung 
Irom the same root which all the rest have done, 
misinformation. . . . 

s Sir John Savile. I was committed out of this House 
sitting [in] Parliament, and being a member of this 
House, and after three weeks imprisonment I was 
at the Council Board and they asked me why I sued 
not for my liberty. I said I knew not why I was 

io committed and they told me that if I would know 
I must ask the Queen, and so sent me back again to 
prison, but after in the Parliament, they only pe- 
titioned or made a remonstrance to the Queen and I 
was released. But they would not determine whether 

is the privilege of Parliament was broken hereby, nor 
the cause of my commitment was not known to them. 
Sir Thomas Hobby. That Sir John Savile was com- 
mitted, before the Parliament sat, by the Council 
Table. . . . Our remonstrance must be that this is 

20 unprecedented, that we are grieved much at it and 
desire that if the commitment be for anything done 
at the Conference that we may examine it, and deter- 
mine their punishment, if their fault be within our 
cognizance. 

25 Sir John Savile. That he was committed fourteen 
days after the Parliament sat and taken as he was 
coming into the House. 

Resolved that we shall present a remonstrance to the 
King' touching the imprisonment of these two members. 

228 



Freedom of Speech 

[May 13th.] Mr. Rolles in the Chair. 

Mr. Littleton reports from the Sub-committee. . . . 
The matter whereupon the King took offence at Sir 
Dudley Digges that he should say by the command- 
5 ment of the House upon the particular the plaster 
applied to his late Majesty that he forbore to speak 
any further in regard of the King's honor, or words to 
that effect. The Committee found this a matter of 
too great weight for their consideration. [They refer 
10 it to the Grand Committee of the Whole House.] 

Mr. Littleton. I . . . protest before God and the 
body of the Commons by the faith of a Christian 
that I heard not these words nor any to this effect. 

Resolved that there shall be a solemn protestation 
15 and [that] it shall be contained in the protestation 
that every man shall say whether he did consent 
that those words or any words to such effect should 
be spoken by Sir Dudley Digges, or did hear any 
such words spoken by him. . . . 
20 Clerk shall call them by the book. 

[May 15th.] 

[A conference asked with the Lords on matters of "im- 
portance concerning the honor of both Houses."] 

[May 1 6th.] Sir Dudley Digges, being at liberty 

25 and sitting in the House . . . gives thanks to the 

House for their care of him, a poor member, and 

makes his protestation that those words were never 

in his thoughts. . . . 

229 



Source Problems in English History 

Chancellor of the Exchequer [Sir Richard Weston] 
... In the case of Sir John Eliot, his business is some- 
thing of another nature. His Majesty believes that 
he exceeded his commission of this House; charges 
s him with some things that are extra-judicial to this 
House, and if he detain him somewhat longer, he 
hopes you will not take this as a breach of the 
privilege^ this House and desires that you would 
proceed with the business of this House. 
io Sir John Strangeways moves that the word extra- 
judicial might be understood and explained. 

Resolved to take the King's message into con- 
sideration to-morrow morning. 

[May 20th.] Sir John Eliot sent for. Comes in 
15 and takes his place. 

Sir Peter Hayman moves that Sir John Eliot's 
charges may be made known to us. 

[The Vice-Chamberlain addresses the House on the 
charges. The Speaker puts the charges one by one and 

20 Eliot denies or explains them. Resolved by question 
that Sir John Eliot hath not exceeded his commission 
which he had from this House in anything which he spake 
at the Conference with the Lords concerning the impeach- 
ment of the Duke of Buckingham. The same kind of 

25 resolutions were voted about Digges.] 

10. An Account of the Debate in Parliament on June 
5, 1628. (Put together from three Sources.) 

a. Sir Richard Grosvenor's Journal. 

b. Borlase Manuscript of the Parliament of 1628. 
30 c. Rushworth, Historical Collections, I, 605-610. 

230 



Freedom of Speech 

[The Commons wished in 1628 to enact a law under 
which the King's ministers could be punished if they re- 
peated their past arbitrary acts. But the King forced 
them to the weaker procedure of petition. The result 
s was the famous Petition of Right. It was a clear-cut and 
forceful statement of principles, but is was not wholly 
satisfactory as an immediate and practical remedy for 
abuses. Eliot, as leader of those who were most intent 
upon bringing the Duke of Buckingham to account, 
*o waited only for the King to answer the Petition of Right 
to begin his attack. His speech of June 3d led to plans 
for a remonstrance. When the King got wind of this he 
sent his message of the 5th.] 

[Rush.] Another message was brought from his 
15 Majesty by the Speaker. . . . His Majesty . . . 
requires them that they enter not into or pro- 
ceed with any new business, which may spend 
greater time, or which may lay any scandal or 
aspersion upon the state, government, or ministers 
30 thereof. 

[Borl.] Sir John Eliot. ... I perceive in the message 
this sad particular that those things which were ap- 
pointed to have been the work of this day are sus- 
pected as scandals or aspersions. I think the chief 
as work of this day was to propose ways of vindicating 
his honor. I doubt he thinks we mean his own min- 
isters which are no way equal to aspersions laid 
upon his people. 

Mr. Speaker. A strict command lies upon me 
30 from his Majesty that you do not meddle with par- 

231 



Source Problems in English History 

ticulars. I beseech you take heed and do not blame 
me for telling you so. 

[Grosv.] Sir Dudley Digges. . . . The message was of 

this nature, and so contrary to the fundamental 

5 liberties of this House that he wished Sir John 

Eliot to cease further speaking and that we might 

sit in silence. 

Sir Nath[aniel] Rich. This is the most remarkable 
time, the most noted occasion that was ever in Par- 
io liament. . . . Either we must now speak or forever 
hold our peace. ... I move to go altogether to the 
Lords House there to declare the violation of liber- 
ties of England. . . . 

Mr. Pym . . . moved for a committee to resolve 
is of the several heads of the violation of the liberties, 
of the danger of this kingdom. 

Sir Robert Phelips. This may be the last time I 
shall speak in this House. No fear that can befall 
me through misinformation from my sovereign, for 
20 my heart shall be right to him, my prayers shall 
be directed to God for him (here he wept). . . . 
Moved that we may with one unanimity declare 
each man that nothing hath passed unfit or unduti- 
fully from any member of this House; which was 
as by question done. 

Sir Ed. Giles. We sit as men daunted. Let us 
put on the spirit of Englishmen and speak to pur- 
pose. . . . 

[By question resolved into a grand committee to 
232 



Freedom of Speech 

consider what was fit for the House to do about 
the message.] 

[Borl.] Mr. Speaker desired leave upon the nam- 
ing of some one to sit in the chair for the committee 
5 to leave the House for half an hour. 1 

Mr. Whitby in the Chair. 

[Grosv.] Mr. Wansford. . . . Wished all of us to recol- 
lect our spirits and to do that which shall be fit for 
Englishmen. . . . Two propositions, whether to go to 
io the King or to the Lords. I think it not fit [to go] to 
the Lords. This business principally concerns our 
own liberties. ... If we must not speak of ministers, 
what must we do? Moved to make a remonstrance 
of our right to speak of our griefs and of ministers 
is ill deserving. . . . Moved to go to the King and ac- 
quaint him what we were about; to tell him that 
which none else durst. 

[Rush.] Sir Edward Coke [quotes the precedents to 
show that men who misled the King may be attacked 
ao in Parliament]. Nothing grows to abuse but this 
House hath power to treat of it. What shall we 
do? Let us palliate no longer; if we do, God will 
not prosper us. I think the Duke of Buckingham 

1 A manuscript account of this Parliament in the possession of 
25 the Massachusetts Historical Society says of the Speaker's departure : 
"Note that the Speaker, seeing the House so moved in the morning 
and none scarce able to speak, and himself also in that condition, 
desired leave to go out awhile, which was granted, and he went to 
the King and stayed with him till near 12 of the clock and then re- 
30 turned." Fol. 2i8verso. Rushworth says he was absent three 
hours. 

233 



Source Problems in English History 

is the cause of all our miseries . . . that man is the 
grievance of grievances. 1 

[The Commons then proceed with their remon- 
strance, just what they were forbidden to do by the 
s message.] 

[June 6th. Mr. Speaker brings another message 
from the King. . . .] 

His Majesty understanding that ye did conceive 
that his last message to restrain you in your just 
io privileges to complain of any of his ministers; these 
are to declare his intentions, that he hath no mean- 
ing of barring you from what hath been your right, 
but only to avoid all scandals on his Council and 
actions past, and that his ministers might not be, 
is nor himself, under their names, taxed for their 
counsel unto his Majesty, and that no such particu- 
lars should be taken in hand as would ask a longer 
time of consideration than what he hath prefixed. 

[In the short session of Parliament in 1629 that followed 

20 Buckingham's murder, the Commons attacked Charles's 

ecclesiastical policy and his claims to tonnage and pound- 

1 Rushworth copies a very interesting letter about this day's 
session written by Mr. Alured to "old Mr. Chamberlain of the 
Court of Wards." He tells of the King's message and goes on: 

25 "Then Sir Robert Phelips spake and mingled his words with 
weeping. Mr. Prynne [Pyrn] did the like, and Sir Edward Coke, 
overcome with passion, seeing the desolation likely to ensue, was 
forced to sit down when he began to speak through the abundance 
of tears; yea the Speaker in his speech could not refrain from weep- 

30 ing and shedding of tears; besides a great many whose great griefs 
made them dumb and silent. Yet some bore up in that storm and 
encouraged others." 

234 



Freedom of Speech 

age. On March 2d the King sent an order adjourning 
Parliament until the 10th. The Commons, fearing that 
a dissolution would follow, determined to bring in a decla- 
ration concerning religion and tonnage and poundage. 

s The Speaker was just leaving the chair in accordance 
with the order for an adjournment when Denzil Holies 
and Benjamin Valentine took hold of him and kept him 
in his seat while Sir John Eliot rose to move three resolu- 
tions which he and his friends had drafted. A fearful 

10 tumult ensued, but the resolutions read by Holies were 
passed. Then the doors were unlocked and the armed 
officers of the King walked in. It had been a stormy 
scene, and the sequel was the prosecution of Holies, 
Valentine, and Eliot. Informations against them in the 

is Star Chamber were transferred to the Court of the King's 
Bench. There they were prosecuted for conspiracy, and 
Eliot in addition for seditious words in Parliament.] 

11. Cobbett's State Trials, III. (Proceedings against 
Sir John Eliot, Denzil Holies, Esq., and Ben- 
20 jamin Valentine, Esq., for seditious speeches 

in Parliament. 1630.) 
Pages 293-294. 

Sir Robert Heath, the King's Attorney-General, 
exhibited informations . . . that the said Eliot pub- 
*s licly and maliciously in the House of Commons, to 
raise sedition between the King, his nobles and peo- 
ples, uttered these words, "That the Council and 
Judges had all conspired to trample underfoot the 
liberties of the subjects." 

30 [The attorney further alleges that the three above men- 
tioned were guilty by "confederacy aforehand " of uttering 
16 235 



Source Problems in English History 

a long-continued speech, with malicious and seditious 
words, of holding the Speaker in his chair, etc. The de- 
fendants pleaded . . . that these offences had been done 
in Parliament and ought not to be punished in any other 
s court. The judgment of the Court was pronounced as 
follows] : 

Pages 309-310- 

The matter of the information now, by the con- 
fession of the defendants, is admitted to be true, 

10 and we think their plea to the jurisdiction insufficient 
for the matter and manner of it. And we hereby 
will not draw the true liberties of Parliament men 
into question; to wit, for such matters which they 
do or speak in a parliamentary manner. But in 

is this case there was a conspiracy between the de- 
fendants to slander the state, and to raise sedition 
and discord between the King, his peers, and people, 
and this was not a parliamentary course. All the 
judges of England except one have resolved the 

20 statute of 4 H. 8 [Strode statute 1 ] to be a private act, 
and to extend to Strode only. But every member 
of the Parliament shall have such privileges as are 
there mentioned; but they have no privilege to 
speak at their pleasure. The Parliament is an high 

25 court, therefore it ought not to be disorderly, but 
ought to give good example to other courts. If a 
judge of our court should rail upon the state, or 
clergy, he is punishable for it. A member of the Par- 

1 See The Setting, p. 172. 
236 



Freedom of Speech 

liament may charge any great officer of the state 
with any particular offence; but this was a ma- 
levolous accusation in the generality of all the officers 
of state, therefore the matter contained within the 
s information is a great offence, and punishable in 
this court. 

[The three were to be imprisoned during the King's 
pleasure, to pay heavy fines, and not to be delivered until 
they gave security for good behavior and acknowledged 
io their offences.] 

12. Commons Journals, II. (July 6, 1641.) 
Page 200. 

Resolved, that the exhibiting of an information 
in the Court of Star Chamber against Mr. Holies 

is and the rest for matters done by them in. Parlia- 
ment, being members of the Parliament, and the 
same so appearing in the information, is a breach Of 
the privilege in Parliament. 

[July 8, 1641.] Resolved, that the exhibiting of 

3° the information against Mr. Holies, Sir John Eliot 
and Mr. Valentine in the King's Bench, being mem- 
bers of the Parliament, for matter done in Parlia- 
ment, was a breach of the privilege of Parliament. 

13. Lords Journals, XII. (Dec. 11, 1667.) 
25 Page 164. 

Next the Lord Chamberlain and the Lord Ashley 
reported the effect of the conference with the House 
of Commons yesterday, which was managed by Mr. 
Vaughan, who said, 

237 



Source Problems in English History 

He was commanded by the House of Commons to 
acquaint their Lordships with some resolves of their 
House concerning the freedom of speech in Parlia- 
ment, and to desire their Lordships' concurrence 
5 therein. [Vaughan discusses in detail the trial of 
Eliot, Holies, and Valentine before the King's 
Bench, as well as its relation to the Strode case of 
1512.] 
[After this the Votes were read, vid.] 
10 Page 166. 

"Resolved that the Act of Parliament . . . com- 
monly entitled 'An Act concerning Richard Strode,' 
is a general law. . . . 

"Resolved that the Judgment given . . . against 
15 Sir John Eliot, Denzil Holies and Benjamin Valen- 
tine, Esquires, in the King's Bench, was an illegal 
judgment, and against the freedom and privilege of 
Parliament." 

[To both which votes the Lords agree with the 
30 House of Commons.] 

14. The student should read in conclusion the article 
in the Bill of Rights concerning free speech 
(See App., p. 406). 



PROBLEM VI 

VI. — The English Parish and the New England 
Town-Meeting 



The English Parish and the New 
England Town-Meeting 

I. THE HISTORICAL SETTING OF THE PROBLEM 

THE parish of the seventeenth century was a singu- 
lar combination of the ecclesiastical and the secular. 
It was ecclesiastical in its origin. The powerful man 
who gave land for a church and for the living of the 
clergyman was providing for the people on his estate; 
the church was looking to it that every vill had its church 
and priest. Hence in the south of England the parish 
came to be, at least in the country, coterminous with the 
manor or vill. In the north the parish Sometimes in- 
cluded several vills. But however related to the vill, 
the parish was an ecclesiastical unit and at first no more 
than that ; it was the territory which included those peo- 
ple over whom the priest exercised spiritual care, but that 
territory was not necessarily continuous. There are evi- 
dences that some time about the fourteenth century a 
new function began to develop in the parish; it came to 
have a vestry — i. e., a meeting of parishioners, usually 
after church on Sunday. Maitland has suggested that 
the vestry, like Parliament, arose from the need of money. 
The repair of the church and the up-keep of appurte- 
nances were met at first perhaps by voluntary contribu- 

241 



Source Problems in English History 

tions. But when a good deal of money had to be secured 
the parishioners were called together by the priest now 
and again for consultation. They were called together 
until one fine day they had acquired the right to be sum- 
moned and to vote "rates." The voting of rates meant 
that there was church property to look after, and so we 
naturally find churchwardens appearing whose duty it 
was to maintain the church and to keep track of its 
"temporal estate." They were selected by the vestry 
and performed functions purely secular. 

The parish had originated as an ecclesiastical unit. It 
had been superimposed upon a secular local unit, the vill 
or manor. With the decline of feudalism and with the 
growing needs of more local government the secular func- 
tions necessary to a community were superimposed upon 
the ecclesiastical framework. This can be seen in the 
offices of petty constable, of the surveyors of the high- 
ways, or "waymen," and of the overseers of the poor. 
As the manorial courts lost their influence the police duties 
which had been attached to them were put upon the 
parish. The petty constable or "borsholder" — the suc- 
cessor of the tithing-man — who was to maintain the peace 
had become in many cases, at some time before the six- 
teenth century, a parish official. The surveyors of the 
highways, who were subordinate to the churchwardens, 
appear under the Tudors, as do the overseers of the poor. 
By the last half of the sixteenth century the parish had 
in this manner become an institution more important 
in its secular than in its ecclesiastical functions. It had 
indeed become something more than an ecclesiastical in- 
stitution upon which secular functions had been imposed; 
it had become a means of local self-government, it had 
made possible the Elizabethan Poor Laws. 

It was never, however, to become quite what it might 

342 



The Parish and the Town-Meeting 

have been, or what the New England town was to be- 
come. Its growth as a self-governing unit was contrary 
to the tendency of Tudor rule. Already through the jus- 
tices of peace the Tudor government was reaching out 
long fingers for the manipulation of the parishes. And 
the vestry, a thoroughly democratic mechanism, had al- 
ready begun in some communities to give place to a more 
exclusive organization. The select vestry was to grow up 
within the vestry, as the cabinet within the council, and 
was to fall heir to the functions of its parent. This proc- 
ess, however, was slow and cannot be said to have gone 
far or to have become general — it never did become uni- 
versal — by the time of the Stuart period. 

It was during the reign of the early Stuarts that New 
England was settled. There, as settlements spread out 
from Plymouth or as they were made around Massachu- 
setts Bay, the pressure of local needs made local govern- 
ment necessary. Rights of pasture had to be determined, 
land had to be divided up, "towns" were organized. It 
is not surprising that the form and functioning of these 
towns should remind us of English parishes of the time. 
We meet in New England with officials whose titles are 
familiar; those officials have duties very similar to the 
duties performed in the parish. Even a brief examina- 
tion of the features common to the English and the 
New England institution makes it evident that a com- 
parison is worth while. In that comparison it must 
not be forgotten that the people of New England 
were living in primitive conditions long since outgrown 
in England. 

The New England town became, as has been said, a 
more important organ of local government than the Eng- 
lish parish had ever been. It is not difficult to see why. 
The New England town was not overshadowed by the 

243 



Source Problems in English History 

county— it had hardened into shape before the county 
became important— it was not interfered with by the 
justices of peace, at any rate not until later. Nor was 
the town-meeting robbed of its functions by a meddle- 
some central government. Its democratic tendency was 
reinforced by the popular character of the church govern- 
ment which Puritanism brought in its train. As a result 
the town became a most important fiscal, military, and 
political unit and the town-meeting became a character- 
istic feature of New England life. 

The following extracts touch only a few of the manifold 
activities of the English parish and of the New England 
town. It is hoped that they are full enough to indicate 
some of the similarities and some of the differences. 



II. INTRODUCTIONS TO THE SOURCES 

It will be readily seen that the source materials used in 
this problem are of three kinds. Sources 1,2, and 3 be- 
long to a rather unusual type. They are descriptive works 
of lawyers, compilations based upon the statutes of Parlia- 
ment, the canon law, and the decisions of the judges. 
The writers endeavored to give expositions of the law 
artd custom about local officials and to do it without per- 
sonal or partisan basis. 

A second type of material is exemplified by sources 
4. 5, 6, 7, and 9. Here are records of the meetings of 
parish, town, and selectmen. Such official documents 
are of course much safer evidence as to how local institu- 
tions worked than the observations of lawyers, save 
where they are quoting from the law. 

A third type of material is to be found in Source 8, 
John Winthrop's Journal. Winthrop left an invaluable 

244 



The Parish and the Town-Meeting 

diary of events in Massachusetts. He was a chief par- 
ticipant in the events he tells about and he was a pains- 
taking kind of man. 

i. The Duties of Constables, Borsholders, Tything-men 
and such other Low and Lay Ministers of the Peace, where- 
unto be adjoyned, the severall offices of Church Ministers and 
Churchwardens, and Overseers for the Poore, Surveighours of 
the highwaies, and distributors of the provision against 
noysome fowle and vermine. First collected (1581) by 
William Lombard of Lincolnes Inn, Gent., and now en- 
larged in the yeare 1604. London, 1604. 

2. The Offices and Duties of Constables, Borsholders, 
Tything-men, Treasurers of the County-stock, Overseers for 
the Poore and other lay-Ministers. By William Sheppard, 
of the Middle Temple, Esq. London, 1641. 

3. A Guide for Constables, Churchwardens, Overseers of 
the Poor, Surveyors of the Highways, Treasurers of the 
County Stock, Masters of the House of Corrections, Bayliffs, 
of Mannours, Toll. Takers in Fairs, etc. Collected by Geo. 
Meriton, Gent. London, 1669. 

4. The Annals of St. Helen's, Bishops gate, London. 
Edited by the Rev. John Edmund Cox, D.D., London, 
1876. Includes Vestry Records from 1558 to 1812. 

5. Illustrations of the Manners and Expences of Antient 
Times in England, in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth, and Seven- 
teenth Centuries, Deduced from the Accomts of Church- 
wardens, and other Authentic Documents. Collected from 
various parts of the Kingdom, with explanatory notes. By 
John Nichols, London, 1797. 

Our sources quote from this volume the Churchwardens' 
accounts of St. Margaret's, Westminster, and of Wigtoft, 
Lincolnshire. Nichols took his copies from MSS. pre- 
served in the churches. 

6. Boston Town Records, 1634-1661. (Published from 

245 



Source Problems in English History 

the MS. records kept by the town clerk.) Second Report 
of Boston Record Commissioners. Boston, 1877. 

7. Records of Boston Selectmen, 1701-1715. Report of 
the Record Commissioners of Boston. Boston, 1884. 

8 . Winthrop's Journal ' ' History of New England, ' ' 1630- 
164Q. 2 vols. Ed. by J. K. Hosmer, New York, 1908. 

9. Town and Selectmen's Records, Newtowne and Cam- 
bridge, 1630-1703. Printed by order of the city council 
under the direction of the city clerk. Cambridge, 1901. 



in. QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY 

Who were the chief executive and administrative officers in 

town and parish? 
What were the duties of these officers? How was each 

chosen? 
What was the chief legislative body of the parish? Of the 

town? Compare them as to power exercised. 
What part did the justice of peace play in parish affairs? 

By whom were the corresponding functions exercised 

in the town? 
What about the exercise of judicial power in parish and 

town? 
Compare the elective power of the vestry and the town- 
meeting. 
Do you find anything in the sources about the parish that 

seems to be like a select vestry? 
Compare the appointing power of the churchwardens and 

selectmen. 
What persons were liable to service as constables? What 

persons were liable to serve in the other offices? 
What provisions were made for military protection and 

training in parish and town? 
What provisions were taken to prevent persons who might 

become a public charge from entering the parish or 

town? 

246 



The Parish and the Town-Meeting 

12. By what process were they relieved from the presence of 

undesirable persons? 

13. How were rates made in each? For what were they made? 

14. Compare the excise regulations in the two. 

15. How were highways and bridges cared for in each? 

16. What precautions were taken to prevent fires? 

17. How were the rights of individuals sometimes subordinated 

to those of the community at large? 

18. What provisions were made for the care of the poor in 

each? 

19. What provisions were made for education? 

20. What provisions were made for the support of the clergyman 

in the town? in the parish (where there was no benefice 
or endowment)? 

21. Make a list of all the officers of the parish and of the town 

and of their several duties. 



IV. The Sources 

i. Lambard: Duties of Constables. {1604.} 
Page 5. 

So then, the name of constable in a hundred or 
franchise doth mean that he is an officer that sup- 
s porteth the King's Majesty in the maintenance of 
his peace, within the precinct of his hundred or 
franchise; and he is many times called the high- 
constable, in comparison of the constables, or petty 
constables, that be in the towns or parishes within 
10 his hundred or franchise : whose part it likewise is, 
to maintain the peace within the several limits of 
their own towns or parishes. . . . 
Page 12. 

But now, for the better preventing that nothing 
is be done against the peace, any of these officers afore- 
said [constables, etc.] may take or arrest suspected 
persons, which walk in the night and sleep in the 
day. . . . Any of these officers may also arrest such 
strange persons as do walk abroad in the night sea- 
20 son: and for that cause the said statute of Win- 
chester did ordain that night watches should be 
kept yearly from the feast of the Ascension until 

248 



The Parish and the Town-Meeting 

Michaelmas, by six men at every gate of every 
city, by twelve men in every borough town, and in 
every other town by six men or four men, accord- 
ing to the number of inhabitants in the town, all 

5 the night long, from sun setting to sun rising. . . . 
And of these watches the officers beforenamed have 
the charge within the limits (or places) of their 
authorities. . . . 
Page 19. 

10 Albeit then, that their said officers [constables] 
be subject to the commandments ... of other officers 
. . . yet because most commonly they are called upon 
by the justices of peace, they ought specially to show 
themselves obedient to their precepts, who (as it may 

is appear by some old precedents) have authority to 
remove insufficient constables and borsholders, and 
to substitute able persons in their place. . . . 
Page 30. 
The constables of hundreds and franchises ought 

20 to make presentment to the justices of peace and 
to all other justices thereto assigned, of the defaults 
of watches, and of the defaults of the King's high- 
ways, . . . and also of such as lodge strangers in up- 
landish towns, for whom they will not answer. . . . 

2s Page 37. 

In default of agreement of the parishioners be- 
tween themselves, the constables and churchwardens 
of each parish (or the more part of them) may rate 
and allot within their parish their assessment for 

249 



Source Problems in English History 

the stock of the shire wherewith that parish was 
charged at the Quarter Sessions : and they also may 
levy the same upon any parishioner, by distress, 
and sale of his goods, tendering the overplus unto 
5 him, 43. Eliz. cap. 2. & 3. . . . 

Page 49. 

Every city, borough, and market town, that have 
a constable, ought also to have common measures 
sealed, and also common weights sealed, at which 
«> the inhabitants may freely weigh. . . . 

Page 50. 

Those four justices of peace that be authorized 
by the statute to make taxation of money for the 
amendment of any decayed bridge in the highway, 
is ought to make that taxation by the assent of the 
constables or two of the most honest inhabitants of 
every town or parish. 

In all cities, boroughs and towns wherein no war- 
dens of cowpers [coopers] be, [the constables or head 
20 officers] have power to search, view and gauge barrels, 
kilderkins, firkins and other vessels. . . . 

Page 60. 

The churchwardens of parishes be taken (in favor 
of the church) to be for some purposes a manner of 
25 corporation at the common law: that is to say, 
persons enabled by that name, to take movable 
goods or chattels and to sue and be sued at the law, 
concerning such goods for the use and profit of their 
parish. . . . 

250 



The Parish and the Town-Meeting 

[If they wasted or misspent the parish money the 
parishioners might bring suit to force a reckoning 
and could remove them by the election of new 
churchwardens.] 
5 Page 64. 

All persons inhabiting within the King's Maj- 
esty's Dominion shall diligently and faithfully (hav- 
ing no lawful or reasonable excuse to be absent) 
endeavor themselves to resort to their parish church 
10 or chapel accustomed . . . [on penalty of fine]. 
Page 65. 

The constables and churchwardens of every par- 
ish shall yearly . . . call together a number of the 
parishioners, and shall then elect and choose two 
is honest persons of the parish to be surveyors and 
orderers of the works for one year, for amendment 
of the highways in their parish, leading to any mar- 
ket town; which persons shall take upon them 
the execution of their said offices [upon penalty of 
20 XXs]. And the said constables and churchwardens 
shall then also name and appoint six days for the 
amendment of the said highways before midsummer 
then next following; and shall openly in the church 
the next Sunday after Easter give knowledge of the 
25 same six days. [All persons holding land in the 
parish were to furnish service in men, horses and 
find carts in proportion to the amount of land held.] 
Page 67. 
The churchwardens and four, three, or two others 

<7 251 



Source Problems in English History 

of every parish, appointed by the two justices of 
peace to be overseers of the poor there (or the more 
part of them), may by the consent of two justices, 
from time to time take order for setting to work all 
5 persons married or unmarried that have no means 
or ordinary trade to live by, and the children of such 
parents as shall be thought unable to maintain 
them. . . . 
Page 78. 

10 Every person or persons that shall not repair, ditch, 
or scour any hays [hedges], fences, ditches, or hedges 
adjoining to any highway or common faring way or 
shall not cut down or keep low all trees and bushes, 
growing in or next adjoining to any the said ways . . . 

is shall forfeit and lose for every default Xs. . . . 
Page 89. 

And if any innkeeper, alehouse - keeper, or vic- 
tualer shall at any time utter or sell less than one 
full ale quart of the best beer or ale for a penny, and 

20 of the small, two quarts for one penny, that then 
every such . . . shall forfeit . . . the sum of XXs. . . . 
All and every the said penalties to be levied by the 
constables or churchwardens. . . . 
2. Sheppard: Offices and Duties of Constables. [1641.] 

25 Page 17. 

And if because the common course is everywhere 
to put these offices upon the meaner sort of men, 
the more able sort do think themselves thereby 
exempted, they are therein much deceived. 

252 



The Parish and the Town-Meeting 

Page 87. 

None may purposely, by word or deed (as by "talk- 
ing, laughing, hemming, or the like) without authority, 
disturb a Minister in his preaching of the word, [or in 
s any church service] ; and if any do so, any one of the 
constables or churchwardens of the place may of his 
own authority presently apprehend him, and carry 
him to a justice of peace of the same county. . . . 
Page 128. 
10 If any person without lawful license take upon him 
... to keep a common alehouse or tippling-house, 
or use commonly selling of ale, beer, cider, or perry, 
he shall forfeit for every such offence 205. to the 
use of the poor of the place. . . . 
is Page 205. 

If all this labor appointed by the statutes to be 
bestowed on the highways be not sufficient for the 
amendment thereof, the parish must supply it; for 
the parishioners of every parish are to look to their 
20 highways that they be well repaired and kept at 
their peril. . . . 
Page 219. 

No man is to be put out of the town where he 

dwelleth, nor to be sent to his place of birth or last 

as habitation but a vagrant rogue. . . . And if they be 

not able to work, they must be relieved there [in 

the parish of their legal residence]. . . . 

Page 226. 

When officers are to make any rates, they shall 
253 



Source Problems in English History 

do well first of all to give public notice in the church 
of the time and place, when and where they intend 
to make the same (for this in the case of church- 
rates is necessary) and then if the parishioners will 

5 meet, they may; if not, the officers and those that 
do meet, may make the rate. The rates must not 
be extended beyond the parish, neither may the 
overseers rate other parishes towards the rates of 
the poor of their parish. . . . 

io Page 232. 

In some special case a man may be rated beyond 
his ability; for if a parishioner for his own gain or 
otherwise, shall bring into the parish without the 
consent thereof, a stranger who is, or is apparently 

is like to be burdensome to the parish; in this case 
the parishioners (because they have no other remedy 
against him) may rate him not only according to his 
ability of lands and goods, but according to the 
damage he bringeth, or is like to bring to the parish 

20 by his folly. . . . 
Page 281. 

[Ministers] must upon every Sunday and holiday, 
before evening prayer, for half an hour or more 
examine and instruct the youth and ignorant per- 

as sons of their parish in the Ten Commandments, the 
Articles of the Belief, and in the Lord's Prayer; and 
shall diligently hear, instruct, and teach them the 
catechism, set forth in the Book of Common Prayer. 
. . . And every man is bound to send his children and 

254 



The Parish and the Town-Meeting 

servants, and they are bound to come, being sent, 
to be catechised. . . . The Minister is every Sunday 
to set down the names of all that are christened, 
married, or buried, the week before within his 
s parish. . . . 

Page 314. 

It is thought also, that they [Ministers] ought to 
have (and may recover where they may have not) 
a competent allowance and maintenance out of the 
10 tithes of the parish wherein they serve. . . . 

Page 326. 

They [churchwardens] are to order the seats in the 
church and to appoint every man and woman where 
they shall sit. . . . [They may make rates] . . . [these] 
*s rates are not to be made for the raising of money, 
before there be need. . . . 
3. Meriton: A Guide for Constables, etc. [1669.] 

Page 41. 

Those officers under the commissioners of excise 
a° called gaugers are to have the constable along with 
them when they enter by night into the houses of 
any brewer, innkeeper, victualer, etc., to gauge 
their coppers, vats, or vessels, or to take an account 
of their beer. . . . 
25 Page 63. 

The constables by warrant to that purpose, under 
the hand and seal of the Lord Lieutenant, or any 
three or more of the Deputy Lieutenants, are to levy 
such sums, forfeitures, penalties and payments, as 

2SS 



Source Problems in English History- 
shall be charged upon any person or persons within 
their several constabularies, for the furnishing of 
arms, horse, or foot, or payment of soldiers, accord- 
ing to the Acts for the Militia. . . . 

5 Page 97. 

If any person or persons shall profanely curse or 
swear, for every time so offending they [shall] for- 
feit twelve pence. . . . 
Page 137. 

10 These officers [churchwardens] are to see that 
the church and churchyard be well repaired and kept 
clean; and they are to provide Books of Common 
Prayer, books of homilies, a parchment book for 
registering christenings, weddings, and burials in, 

*5 fonts, pulpits, tables, chests for alms, communion 
cups, ornaments, and other furniture; and a chest 
with three locks and keys for putting the same in; 
and they are also to provide bread and wine for the 
Sacrament according to the number of the communi- 

20 cants. And for these purposes they may rate the 
parish for money to do it. . . . [The churchwardens] 
together with the constables, overseers of the poor, 
and surveyors of the highways of every parish [in 
London] respectively, or the greater number of them, 

25 giving notice unto, or calling together such other in- 
habitants of their respective parishes as have for- 
merly borne the like offices, they . . . are to make 
choice of and shall nominate and appoint two or 
more able persons, that are tradesmen of their 

256 



The Parish and the Town^Meeting 

parish, to be scavengers for the streets, lanes, and 
other open passages . . . within the said parish. . . . 
Page 175. 
As touching settling of poor people: note that 

s the justices are to meddle with [to eject] none but 
those who are impotent, and such as are like to be 
chargeable to the place where they are. . . . And as 
to this, know that it is enacted by the 14. Car. 2. Ch. 
12. that if any stranger come into a parish to settle 

10 there in any tenement, under £10 a year, and he re- 
fuse to give such security for the discharge of the 
parish as two justices shall think fit, then any two 
justices . . . may upon complaint to them made by 
the churchwardens or overseers, within 40 days 

is after the stranger come into the parish, make their 
warrant to send him to the place where he was last 
legally settled as a native, householder, sojourner, 
apprentice or servant 40 days or more. . . . 
4. The Annals of St. Helen's, Bishopsgate, London. 

2 ° Page 100. 

At a vestry kept by the parishioners of St. Helen's, 

upon Sunday, the second day of October, a.d. 1558. 

Imprimis. It is ordained that a book of paper be 

prepared wherein all orders concluded at any vestry 

as may be entered and put in writing. 

Item. That the youngest churchwarden for time 
being shall be bound to enter or cause to be en- 
tered the said orders in the said books within xiv 
days after, upon pain of Vs. 

257 



Source Problems in English History 

Item. That the said parishioners shall yearly as- 
semble together upon the Sunday next after the 
feast of St. Michael the Archangel, 1 to elect, and 
choose the churchwardens for the year following, 
s the said assembly to be duly called by the church- 
wardens upon the pain of Vs. 

Item. That the old churchwardens shall make 
yearly a good and perfect account of their office 
before the said parishioners upon Sunday next after 
*° the feast of All Saints, upon pain to forfeit and pay 
the sum [of] 35. \d. if he have no lawful excuse. 
And any Sunday after as much until they have 
made their said account. The said sum or sums 
of money to be levied to the use of the said parish 
15 church. 

Item. That if any parishioner of the said parish 
be duly warned by the churchwardens to come to 
any vestry to be kept by the said parishioners, and 
do make default, that then he or they, having no 
20 good lawful excuse, shall forfeit for any such default 
the sum of 2d. to the use of the parish. 

Page 102. 

[May 4, 1 56 1.] Thomes Odyll and George Lodge 
are elected to be collectors for the poor people for 
as this year following. 

[Dec. 21, 1 56 1.] This day were chosen common 
officers for the year following, viz. : Thos. Colshill for 
the Common Council; Richard Kirke and Edmund 

1 J. e., Michaelmas, September 29th. 
258 



The Parish and the Town-Meeting 

Stone for the Wardmote Quest ; x John Edwards, 
constable; George Gray, scavenger; Kylbye, beadle. 
[Sexton, parish clerk, churchwarden, conductor of 
choir, clock-keeper and washer of the church linen 
s chosen by previous vestry.] 
Page 104. 

[March 20, 1565.] Item. It is agreed that the 
curate shall forthwith make a perfect book of all 
the names of the householders of this parish with 
10 their wife, children, and servant, viz., such as be of 
the age of 16 years or above, and the same book or 
a true copy thereof to be delivered to the said Mr. 
Colshill and Mr. Saunders [churchwardens]. 
Page 108. 
is 1678. Nov. 11. Mr. Hesketh chosen Minister, 2 
having 18 votes out of 21. 
Page no. 

1689. Dec. 6. Mr. Hesketh's letter being read, 

it was agreed for a subscription and every one to 

20 subscribe whereby a competent sum may be raised 

for a subsistence for him, that he may be induced 

to preach constantly and remain vicar of the parish 

of St. Helen's. 

Page in. 

25 1694. May 24. . . . That the [fire] engine be 

brought into the church, and the old engine-house 

1 A wardmote quest was the same as a wardmote inquest or a ward- 
mote court — i. e., a court held in every ward in the city of London. 

2 This method of naming the clergyman was not general. 

259 



Source Problems in English History 

be pulled down for the better accommodation in 
burying the dead. 
Page 122. 
1702. April 7. Mr. Aylward, elected church- 
s warden, excused [from] all offices on paying the fine 
of £30, the question having been put whether it 
should be £25 or £30. 

April 10. Mr. Grispe elected; excused on the same 
conditions. 
10 Page 129. 

1708. May 5. . . . [Ordered] that the churchwar- 
dens do enquire of the town clerk concerning agree- 
ment made by the proprietors in the Thames water 
for their supplying fire-cocks with their water, for 
is public benefit, gratis. 

Sept. 14. The great [fire] engine ordered to be re- 
paired. 
Page 143. 

1732. March 10. A request being made by Mr. 

20 Nath. Gould, a parishioner, that this vestry would 

grant to him and his family the liberty of sitting in 

the uppermost pew on the left hand of the middle 

aisle next the communion table : it was resolved that 

permission be granted during the pleasure of the par- 

25 ish, but when the said N. Gould or his family shall not 

be at church, then the said pew shall be filled at the 

discretion of the churchwardens for the time being. 

Page. 149. 

1739. Feb. 9. A motion being made whether the 
260 



The Parish and the Town-Meeting 

women had a right to vote for a parish clerk or not, 
and debates arising thereon, this vestry was dis- 
solved. 

Nichols, Illustration. 
5. A. Churchwardens' Accounts of St. Margaret's, 
s Westminster. 

Page 11. 

1 541. Item, given, by the consent of the Worship- 

fuls of the parish, of the church-money, towards the 

10 repairing of thehighway towards the Eye-cross. . . . 

£ s. d. 
300 
Page 13. 

1548. Also paid to Philip Lentall, for making clean 
15 of XI pair of harnesses [armor], IX daggers, and 
VIII bills, prices every harness is. 40I. 

o 14 o [sic] 
Also paid to XI men for wearing of the same har- 
nesses at the muster-day. . . . 
20 056 

Page 15. 

1559. Item, paid for a book of the names of all 
such persons as were buried within this parish, from 
Midsummer-day, a.d. 1558, unto Midsummer-day 
25 in the year 1559, delivered to the visitors. 1 

020 

1 This referred to the representatives of the bishop, who made 
visits at stated times to inspect the parish and try persons guilty 
of offences against the canon law. 

261 



Source Problems in English History 

Page 1 8. 

1567. Item, paid for a certificate made of all the 
strangers within the parish. 006 

Page 19. 
5 1572. Item, for a new register book, for to write in 
the names of every burial, christening, and marriage, 
that is in the parish. 050 

Page 19. 

1 58 1. Item, paid for a book of the Abridgment of 
10 Statutes, to remain in the church. 

090 
Page 22. 

1589. And the churchwardens aforesaid have de- 
livered the sum of forty pounds in money, which 
15 was the money given by Mr. Feckenam, late Abbot 
of Westminster, to the use of the poor of the same 
parish to buy wood; which sum the said church- 
wardens have delivered into the hands of the new 
churchwardens now appointed. 
20 40 o o 

Page 23. 

1592. Item, paid to the dog-killer for killing dogs 
the first time of infection. 016 o 

Item, paid more to the dog-killer for killing more 
25 dogs. o 10 10 

Page 24. 

1595. Item, paid for bread, drink, cheese, fish, 
cream, and other victuals., when the Worshipful of 
the parish, and very many others of the poorest sort, 

262 



The Parish and the Town-Meeting 

went the perambulation 1 to Kensington, in this hard 
and dear time of all things, as may appear by a bill 
of particulars. 7 10 o 

Page 27. 
s 1602 . Item, paid to two surgeons, to search a corpse 
suspected to be of the plague. 068 

Page 31. 

16 16. Item, [received] of Sir Richard Wigmore, 
Knight, for his part of a pew. o 13 4 

10 Page 38. 

1628. Item, [received] of divers persons, the parish- 
ioners of this parish, for their fines for swearing, and 
being drunk, and for breach of the Sabbath, and 
being otherwise presented according to the penal 
is laws, as by a particular of their names and several 
fines appeareth, which hath been employed to the 
use of the hospital children. ... 3 9 4 

Page 43. 

1634. Item, for drawing and writing out the names 
20 of the inhabitants to make the assessment of the 
ship-money. ... 134 

Page 49. 

1642. Item, received out of the black chest at 
several times for the building of the new pest-houses. 
25 200 o o 

1 By a "perambulation" was meant the walking around a parish 

once a year to define its boundaries. In Catholic times it took the 

form of a semi-religious procession of all the inhabitants, but that 

was later forbidden and the duty was at length turned over to a few 

30 men appointed for that purpose. 

263 



Source Problems in English History 

Item, receipts of moneys collected towards the pay- 
ment for the building of the courts of guard, making 
posts and chains, and other works for the safety of 
this town, sum : 5000 

s Page 52. 

1645. Item, for seven lanterns to hang in the 
streets. o 18 o 

Page 72. 

167 1. Item, [received] of Dr. Busby, to pay Mrs. 
10 Hooper, for teaching the parish children three weeks 
at 25. 6 d. the week. 076 

Page 76. 

1686. Item, to Mary Booth, for keeping 8 children 
8 weeks at Clerkenwell, at 35. per week, 
is 9 12 o 

B. Churchwardens' accounts of Wigtoft, a village 
near Boston, Lincolnshire. 

Page 83. 

1487. Item, paid for hooks and hengless [hinges] 
20 unto the school-house door, with a key, and for 
nails to the same door. [Note by editor : ' ' It appears 
a school was kept in the church at that time, as is 
the case at this day" — 1797.] 
6. Boston Town Records. 
25 Page 2. 

[Oct. 6, 1634.] At a general meeting upon public 
notice given the 5 th day of the last week, it was 
ordered and agreed as followeth: imprimis, Rich. 
Bellingham, Esq., and J. Cogan, merchant, were 

264 



The Parish and the Town-Meeting 

chosen in the place of Giles Firmin, deceased, and 
Robt. Harding, now in Virginia, to make up the 10 
to manage the affairs of the town. [Selectmen.] 
Item: Jo. Coggeshall, [and four others], together 

5 with Wm. Cheeseborrowe, the constable, are de- 
puted to make a rate for the levying of £40 assessed 
upon the town as the first payment of a greater sum 
by order of the last General Court. 1 
Page 3. 

10 [Dec. 18, 1634. Town meeting.] Imprimis, it is 
agreed that Mr. Winthrop [and six others] shall have 
power to divide and dispose of all such lands belong- 
ing to the town (as are not yet in the lawful pos- 
session of any particular persons) to the inhabitants 

*5 of the town according to the orders of the Court, 
leaving such portions in common for the use of 
new-comers, and the further benefit of the town, 
as in their best discretions they shall think fit: the 
islands hired by the town to be also included in 

20 this order. 
Page 4. 

[March 23, 1635. Town meeting.] Imprimis: 
it is agreed, by general consent, that the overseers 
of the fences of the several fields shall see to the 

as making of such stiles and gates as may be needful 
for every field . . . the stiles and gates for common 
highways to be made out of public charge, forth of 
the constables' hand. . . . 

1 The General Court was the Colonial Legislature. 
265 



Source Problems in English History 

Page 5. 

[April 13, 1635. Town-meeting.] . . . Likewise it 

was then generally agreed upon, that our brother, 

Philemon Pormont, shall be intreated to become 

5 school-master, for the teaching and nurturing of 

children with us. 

Page 5. 

[Nov. 30, 1635. Town meeting.] Imprimis: It 
is agreed that no further allotments shall be granted 
10 unto any new-comers, but such as may be likely to 
be received members of the Congregation. 

Item: That none shall sell their houses or allot- 
ments to any new-comers, but with the consent and 
allowance of those that are appointed allotters. 
15 Item : That none of the members of this congrega- 
tion or inhabitants among us shall sue one another 
at the law before that Mr. Henry Vane and the two 
elders, Mr. Thomas Oliver and Thomas Leveritt, 
have had the hearing and deciding of the cause if 
20 they can. 

Pages 7, 8. 

[Jan. 23, 1636. Town meeting.] Imprimis: At 
this meeting, Thomas Marshall, is by general con- 
sent, chosen for the keeping of a ferry from the mill 
as point unto Charl[es]town. 

Item: It was likewise agreed that for the raising 
of a new work of fortification upon the Forthill, 
about that which is there already begun, the whole 
town would bestow fourteen days work by equal 

266 



The Parish and the Town-Meeting 

proportion. . . . [Commissioners for the work ap- 
pointed, to apportion money and work from each.] 
Page 8. 

[Feb. 27, 1636.] At a meeting upon private warn- 
5 ing it was agreed that there shall be a watch taken 
up and gone around with from the 1st of 2d month 
next, for the summertime, from sunset an hour' 
after the beating of the drum, upon penalty for 
every one wanting therein nd. for every night. 
10 Page 10. 

[May 9, 1636. Meeting of the Selectmen.] It 
was ordered that no townsmen shall entertain any 
strangers into their houses for above 14 days, with- 
out leave from those that are appointed to order 
15 the town's businesses. 

Item: It is ordered that none shall keep any 
victualing houses for the selling of wine, beer, cakes 
or any other kind of victuals within this town, but 
only such as are allowed thereunto as innkeepers. 
*° Page 10. 

[May 13, 1636. Town meeting.] At this assembly 

Mr. William Hutchinson, Mr. John Coggeshall, and 

Mr. William Brenton are chosen for deputies or 

committees for the service of this next General 

2s Court. 

Page 10. 

[June 6, 1636. Selectmen.] Item: We find that 
Richard Fairbank hath sold unto two strangers the 
two houses in Sudbury end that were William Bal- 
18 267 



Source Problems in English History 

stone's, contrary to a former order, and therefore 
the sale to be void, and the said Richard Fairbank 
to forfeit for his breaking thereof, xls. 
Page ii. 

s [Aug. 15, 1636. Selectmen.] It was ordered that 
John Sampford and William Hudson shall be water 
baylies, to see that no annoying things, ... be left 
or laid about the seashore. . . . 
Page 11. 

10 [Sept. 16, 1636. Town meeting.] At this assem- 
bly Mr. Thomas Oliver [and nine others] are, with 
general consent, chosen [as Selectmen] for these next 
six months to oversee and set order for all allot- 
ments belonging to this town, and for all other 

is occasions and businesses of the same (excepting mat- 
ters of election for the General Court) from time to 
time, to be agreed upon and ordered by them or the 
greater part of them. 
Page 12. 

20 [Oct. 4, 1636. Selectmen.] At a meeting ... it 
was agreed and ordered that from this day there 
shall no house at all be built in this town near unto 
any of the streets or lanes therein, but with the advice 
and consent of the overseers of the town's occa- 

2s sions. . . . 
Page 13. 

[Nov. 15, 1636. Selectmen.] . . . Also at this meet- 
ing Richard Fairbank is chosen for our hog reeve, 
according to order of Court. 

268 



The Parish and the Town-Meeting 

Page 1 8. 

[May 13, 1637. Selectmen.] . . . Item: It is agreed 
that Richard Fairbank shall be the fold-keeper for 
the residue of this our half year time. 
5 Page 20. 

[Oct. 16, 1637. Town meeting.] [Eleven men 
chosen as selectmen.] Also at this meeting Mr. 
Ralph Hudson and Edward Bendall are chosen con- 
stables of this town for this next year. 
10 Page 35. 

[Nov. 2, 1638. Selectmen.] . . . Leave is granted 
to Richard Rawlings, a plasterer, to buy Peter John- 
son's, the Dutchman's house, and to become an in- 
habitant of this town. 
j s Page 36. 

[Dec. 10, 1638. Selectmen.] It is agreed that 
Arthur Perry shall have yearly allowed for his 
drumming to the Company upon all occasions, the 
sum of £2, to be paid by the town. 
20 Page 39. 

[March 25, 1639.] . . . Also it is agreed that our 
brother Robert Walker shall be the cow-keep[er] for 
this year. . . . 

Page 44. 
25 [Dec. 16, 1639. Town meeting.] At this meeting 
the orders of the last General Court were openly 
read. 

Page 55. 

[Sept. 28, 1640. Town meeting.] [Deputies, to 
269 



Source Problems in English History 

the General Court, Selectmen and Surveyors of the 
Highways were elected] . . . and for town-crier, Wil- 
liam Courser. 

Page 56. 
5 [Oct. 26, 1640. Selectmen.] There is at this 
meeting a bridge appointed to be made at Muddy 
River; Mr. Coleburne, our brother Eliott, and our 
brother Peter Oliver are appointed to see the same 
done. . . . Evan Thomas is to be taken into con- 
10 sideration for becoming a townsman with us. 

Page 58. 

[Jan. 25, 1641. Selectmen.] . . . Evan Thomas 
is accepted for a townsman at this meeting. 

Page 62. 
is [July 26, 1 64 1. Selectmen.] . . . Our brother John 
Oliver is chosen treasurer for the town, and to keep 
the town's book. [Recorder.] 

Page 65. 

[Jan. 10, 1642. Town meeting.] At a general 
20 town meeting upon warning from house to house. 

It's ordered that Deer-Island shall be improved 
for the maintenance of a free school for the town; 
and such other occasions as the Townsmen [Select- 
men] for the time being shall think meet, the said 
25 school being sufficiently provided for. 

It's ordered that there shall be no more lands 
granted unto any inhabitants that shall hereafter 
be admitted into the town, unless it be at a general 
town meeting. 

27Q 



The Parish and the Town-Meeting 

It's ordered that the 9 men [Selectmen] shall, ac- 
cording to the present need of the town, appoint the 
sum and the particular assessments of a town rate. 

Page 71. 
5 [Dec. 26, 1642. Selectmen.] It's ordered that 
parents shall give in a note of the names of their 
children, and the time of their birth, unto the clerk 
of the writs (both of such as have been born in 
this town, and shall be born), within one week 
10 after their birth, under the penalty of 6 pence for 
every defect, and he that hath the care of the bury- 
ing-place, shall give notice unto the said clerk, of 
the names of such as are buried, and that the con- 
stable shall signify this order unto every family in 
15 the town. 

Page 80. 

[July 29, 1644. Selectmen.] . . . Zache Boz worth is 
appointed poundkeeper. . . . Charity White is al- 
lowed 265. for thirteen weeks' keeping of John Berry, 
a ° to be paid by the constables. 

Page 82. 

[Dec. 2, 1644. Selectmen.] It's ordered that the 
constables shall pay unto Deacon Eliott for the use 
of Mr. Woodbridge eight pounds due to him for 
25 keeping the school the last year. 

Page 83. 

(Jan. 27, 1645. Town meeting.] Valentine Hill, 
deacon, together with one of the present constables, 
are appointed auditors of Anthony Stodder, late 

271 



Source Problems in English History 

constable, his accounts, and to make report thereof 
unto the Selectmen at their next meeting. 

Page 85. 

[Sept. 29, 1645. Selectmen.] . . . Whereas, the sev- 

s eral grants of house lots, and other lands recorded in 

this town-book, are entered only as granted to the 

parties themselves, without mention of their heirs, 

it hath been thought fit to be hereby declared and 

ordered that all such grants were, and shall be in- 

10 tended to be estates in fee simple, with all due and 

usual privileges and appurtenances, and are so to 

be construed, and taken to all intents, except in 

such cases wherein any particular estate for a term 

of years is specially expressed. 

is Page 86. 

[Feb. 23, 1646. Selectmen.] . . . Thos. Scotto 
is appointed to see that the graves be digged five 
foot deep, and to see the gates be fast and the fence 
up, and to have some allowance. 
20 Page 87. 

[March 30, 1646. Selectmen.] John Berry is put 
an apprentice to Edward Keyly for seven years. 

Page 88. 

[May 18, 1646. Town meeting.] ... It is granted 
as that all the inhabitants shall have equal right of 
commonage in the town; those who are admitted 
by the townsmen, to be inhabitants. 

Page 90. 

[March 18, 1647. Town meeting.] [Besides elect- 
272 



The Parish and the Town-Meeting 

ing the usual officers — Selectmen, deputies, con- 
stables, etc.] . . . For sealers of leather: Bro[ther] 
Copp, Evan Thomas, Will Courser, John Stevenson. 
Page 91. 
s [July 26, 1647. Selectmen.] Martin Stebbin is fined 
205. for brewing beer to sell without order. Martin 
Stebbin is allowed to brew beer at a penny a quart, 
and two quarts ["small beer"] a penny and not to 
exceed upon penalty of 20Z. fine. 
10 Page 92. 

[March 13, 1648. Town meeting.] It is ordered 
that no constables shall be discharged of their place 
till they have given up their accounts of the rates 
that is committed to them, 
is Page 94. 

[March 12, 1649. Town meeting.] The usual 
officers elected.] . . . For clerks of the market, Jerimy 
Howchin, James Penn. . . . Mr. Thos. Clarke is fined 
205. for refusing to serve his constable's place. 
20 Page 95. 

[April 9, 1649. Selectmen.] Mr. Bowin and Peter 
Oliver is chosen for perambulation at Muddy River. 
Page 96. 

[June 26, 1649. Selectmen.] Rich. Taylor is to 
25 ring the bell at 9 of the clock at night and half an 
hour after four in the morning, and is to have for his 
recompense 4I. a year. . . . 
Page 100. 

[March 25, 1650. Selectmen.] . . . Mr. Jerimy 
2 73 



Source Problems in English History 

Howchin is chosen sealer of the weights and meas- 
ures this year till another be chosen. 
Page 1 06. 
[Aug. 11, 165 1. Town meeting.] . . . Also it was 

s ordered that the Selectmen shall take care from time 
to time for the prevention of danger of fire by de- 
fective chimneys, and upon complaints to view 
them, and to order their repair upon penalty ii not 
repaired. 

10 Page 108. 

[Feb. 23, 1652. Selectmen.] . . . John Vyall hath 
liberty to keep a house of common entertainment 
if the County Court consent, provided he keep it 
near the new meeting-house or northward of it. 

is Pages 113, 114. 

[March 14, 1653. Town meeting.] [Usual officers 
elected, also.] . . . For packer of flesh and fish : Sarjt. 
John Barrell. ... It is ordered that there shall be a 
ladder or ladders to every house within this town 

20 that shall reach to the ridge of the house [also a pole, 
12 feet long, with a "swob" on the end of it which 
every householder shall provide for his house by 
the last day of the third month next, on penalty of 
six shillings, eight pence.] ... It is ordered that the 

as Selectmen shall forthwith provide six good and long 
ladders for the town's use, which shall hang at the 
outside of the meeting-house, there to be ready in 
case of fire, these ladders to be branded with the 
town mark. 

274 



The Parish and the Town-Meeting 

Pages 121, 122. 

[Jan. 29, 1655. Selectmen.] The treasurer is to 

pay to [these] several persons [their names following] 

the sum of seventeen pounds, fifteen shillings, for 

5 the billeting of 32 soldiers, being impressed for the 

expedition against Ninicraft. 

Pages 122, 123. 

[March 12, 1655. Town meeting.] [The usual 
officers elected] . . . for corders of wood: Thos. 
10 Leader [and three others]. 

Page 127. 

[Nov. 27, 1655. Selectmen.] Robert Wyatt and 
Wm. Lane are appointed to sweep chimneys and to 
cry about streets that they may be known. 
j 5 Page 129. 

[1656. Town meeting.] . . . [Chosen as] gaugers 
of cask, Wm. Dinsdale, John Cunny. 

Page 129. 

[March 14, 1656. Town meeting.] It is ordered 

20 that the Selectmen shall have liberty to lay out a 

piece of ground out of the town's land, which they 

give to the building of a house for instruction of the 

youth of the town. 

Page 131. 
25 [July 28, 1656. Selectmen.] ... If any young 
person or others be found without either meet- 
ing - house, idling or playing during the time of 
public exercise on the Lord's day, it is ordered 
that the constables or others appointed for that 

275 



Source Problems in English History 

end shall take hold of them and bring them before 
authority. 

Pages 136, 137. 

[April 27, 1657. Selectmen.] Richard Way ad- 

5 mitted into the Town provided that Aaron Way do 

become bound in the sum of twenty pounds sterling 

to free the town from any charge that may accrue 

to the town by the said Richard or his family. 

I, Aaron Way, do hereby engage myself, my heirs, 
10 executors, etc., unto the Selectmen of the town of 
Boston and their successors in the sum of twenty 
pounds sterling in behalf of my brother, Richard 
Way, and his family, that they shall not be charge- 
able to the town, and hereunto set my hand. 
15 Aaron X Way. 

his mark. 
Page 140. 

[Nov. 30, 1657. Selectmen.] It is ordered that 
Philip Curtis be paid twenty shillings for killing a 
20 wolf at Muddy River the last winter. 1 
Page 142. 

[Jan. 25, 1658. Selectmen.] It is ordered that 
measures of brass be provided as standards for the 
town and reserved for that use. 
as Page 148. 

[Nov. 29, 1658. Selectmen.] Whereas fifteen 

1 Regular bounties were provided by law at Plymouth for killing 
wild beasts, as was done in earlier times in England for the "de- 
struction of noisome fowl or vermin." 

276 



The Parish and the Town-Meeting 

pounds were given by Mr. Paddy as a legacy to the 
poor of the town, it is ordered that the town treas- 
urer dispose of the same according to order. 

Page 151. 
s [March 28, 1659. Selectmen.] John Dawes is 
ordered to oversee the youth at the new meeting- 
house, that they behave themselves reverently in 
the time of divine worship, and to act according to 
his instructions herein. 
10 7. Records of Boston Selectmen. 

Page 5. 

[May 22, 1 701.] Ordered that thirty hundred- 
weight of bullets and five thousand of flints be forth- 
with provided for a town stock, and Mr. Gyles Dyer, 
is Mr. Richard Draper, and Mr. Robert Gibbs are ap- 
pointed to take care to procure the same. 

Page 7. 

[July 28th.] Ordered that a motion be made to the 
Quarter Sessions to remove the incroachment for- 
20 merely made by Col. Page on the highway nigh the 
town house. 

Page 18. 

[March 16, 1702.] At a meeting of the justices 
of the peace and Selectmen within the town of 
as Boston ... it was then by the said justices and 
Selectmen agreed that the bake-house belonging 
to the Rev. Mr. James Allen . . . and the granary 
belonging to Mr. Arthur Mason ... be the houses 
at present improved for the lodging of gunpowder 

277 



Source Problems in English History 

in, until other and better provision be made for the 
same. 

Page 23. 

[June 9, 1702.] At a meeting of the Selectmen with 
s the overseers of the poor and the town treasurer: 
it is mutually agreed unto, that the treasurer do 
pay out the ninety pounds in money now in hand, 
for the use of the poor and as the overseers of the 
poor shall order. The overseers of the poor having 
10 agreed and resolved not to send the poor to the 
treasurer as formerly. 

Page 193. 

[Sept. 15, 1 713. Selectmen.] Ordered that a cage 
be made and placed at the upper end of Queen 
15 Street, and the whipping-post and stock be placed 
there also. 
8. Winthrop's Journal. 

I, page 116. 

[Dec, 1633.] After much deliberation and seri- 
30 ous advice, the Lord directed the teacher, Mr. Cot- 
ton, to make it clear by the scripture that the 
minister's maintenance, as well as all other charges 
of the church, should be defrayed out of a stock, or 
treasury, which was to be raised out of the weekly 
as contribution; which accordingly was agreed upon. 



Page 144. 

[1634.] One Abigail Gifford, widow, being kept at 

278 



The Parish and the Town-Meeting 

the charge of the parish of Wilsden in Middlesex, 
near London, was sent by Mr. Ball's ship into this 
country, and being found to be sometimes distracted, 
and a very burdensome woman, the governor and 
s assistants returned her back, by warrant 18, to the 
same parish, in the ship Rebecca. 
g. The Records of the Town of Cambridge. 
Page 354. 

[Jan. 19, 1663.] The committee for ordering the 
10 seating of people in the meeting-house being met 
at the ordinary [inn]: 

Appointed: Bro. Rich. Jackson's wife to sit there 
where sister Kempster was wont to sit. Mrs. Up- 
ham, with her mother. Ester Sparhauke, in the 
is place where Mrs. Upham is removed from. . . .John 
Stedman, on the fore gallery on the south side. . . . 
Mary Lemmon, where old sister Jackson was wont 
to sit . . . [etc.]. 
Page 155. 
20 [Feb. 13, 1665. Selectmen.] . . . Thomas Gleison 
being sent for to appear before the Selectmen was 
warned to provide himself, the townsmen not seeing 
meet to allow of him as an inhabitant in this town. 
[Note by clerk, in margin: "He had been in the 
*s town about a week."] 
Page 175. 

[Feb. 8, 1669. Selectmen.] . . . for catechising the 
youth of this town: Elder Champney, Mr. Oakes 
are appointed for those families on the south side 

279 



Source Problems in English History 

the bridge. [Fifteen others appointed for various 
sections of the town.] 

Page 226. 

[Feb. 14, 1676. Selectmen.] William Manning 
[and three others] are appointed by the Selectmen 
to have inspection into families that there be no 
bye-drinking nor any misdemeanor whereby sin is 
committed and persons [are] from their houses 
unseasonably. 



PROBLEM VII 

VIL— Beginning of Peace Negotiations with 
America 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 
with America 

I. THE HISTORICAL SETTING OF THE PROBLEM 

THE Seven Years' War was a long reach forward in 
the history of English expansion. If English poli- 
ticians and diplomats failed to hold for England all the 
winnings of her warriors, the Peace of Paris, nevertheless, 
gave the British Empire a secure place in the sun. She 
received nearly all the French possessions in America 
except Louisiana (including the city of New Orleans and 
the isle of Orleans upon which it stands), she gained 
Florida from Spain, she got some of the French islands 
in the West Indies, and she established her position more 
firmly in India. It was Turgot, the French statesman, 
who then prophesied that the French loss of Canada would 
eventually cost England the loss of her American colo- 
nies. Whatever partial truth there was in this, from 
the Peace of Paris on, tendencies were at work which 
were to drive the thirteen colonies out of the English 
fold. In 1775 the disaffection came to a head and in the 
next year the Declaration of Independence committed the 
colonies to the policy of complete separation. George 
III., who with the help of Lord North was attempting in 
England to substitute for the system of cabinet and party 
government his personal rule through ministers, strove no 
19 283 



Source Problems in English History 

less eagerly in the New World to coerce the colonies into 
submission to royal regulation and taxation. The narrow 
mind of the sovereign, intent upon exercising those 
prerogatives of the crown which the first two Georges 
had lost, was by instinct impatient of colonial aspiration 
and intolerant of colonial insolence. It was George III. 
who forced the opposition in Parliament to speak for 
the Americans. The Whigs would have been utterly 
undiscerning had they not felt their community of in- 
terest with the colonists. Not even the outbreak and 
progress of the war stopped their voices. But in their 
sympathy for the Americans they were by no means 
united. The followers of Chatham, among whom, after 
their leader's death, Shelburne was most prominently 
concerned in American policies, never grew weary of 
asserting that America had been goaded into the war. 
She could, they said, be won back by proper concessions. 
Another faction, of which Rockingham was the leader 
and Charles Fox the daring spokesman, declared that 
America deserved and would ultimately win independ- 
ence. Meantime, in 1778, France, eager to avenge the 
Seven Years' War and willing to see England lose her best 
possession, had allied herself with the United States, 
each nation promising not to make peace without the 
consent of the other, and not before the acknowledgment 
of American independence. Spain soon followed France 
into the war, though not as an ally of the United States, 
and Holland was drawn in through English resentment 
of her policy of supplying naval and military stores to 
the enemies of England. 

The news of Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown put 
an end to George III.'s plans for subduing the revolted 
colonies, and with the failure of those plans all his efforts 
to turn back the clock in England were without effect. 

284 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 

The ejaculation attributed to Lord North, "O God! it's 
all over!" was no over-statement. The factions of the 
Whig party came together, and the Commons by a ma- 
jority of nineteen resolved to cease offensive warfare 
in America and to direct their energies against France, 
Spain, and Holland. It was high time. Early in 1782 
England lost the island of Minorca and several of the 
West Indies. From the English point of view the next 
move was to induce America to forswear her French ally 
and accept a separate peace. Attempts in this direction 
had indeed already been made. Lord North had made 
use of David Hartley, an intimate friend of Franklin; 
and one Digges, who was a great deal of a rascal, but 
who claimed to represent Lord North, had interviewed 
Franklin in Paris and Adams in Holland. Neither of 
these attempts, nor a like one to seduce France from the 
support of America, availed to disturb the close relations 
existing between Franklin and the French Minister of 
Foreign Affairs, Vergennes. Had he wished to do so 
Franklin would not have dared to go back on the in- 
structions to the American Commissioners for Peace, in- 
structions which forbade negotiation without the knowl- 
edge of the French Ministers. He was glad to live up to 
them and kept Vergennes informed of every move. The 
only effect of such efforts had been to rouse the resent- 
ment of Franklin, who was, in consequence, in no mood 
at all to listen to further negotiations of the kind. This 
the student should bear in mind. 

On March 20, 1782, Lord North resigned, and the 
Rockingham Cabinet was formed from the two wings of 
the Whig party. The union was a marriage of convenience 
and was destined to prove a mesalliance. Charles Fox, 
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, was in favor of 
immediate and unconditional recognition of American 

285 



Source Problems in English History 

independence. That such a recognition would throw the 
negotiations into his hands, since the United States would 
cease to be a colonial possession and would at once be- 
come a foreign nation, cannot be said to have been the 
determining motive of a man who had on many occasions 
wished success to the revolting colonies. Lord Shel- 
burne, Secretary for Home Affairs, Ireland, and the 
Colonies, a personal and political opponent of Fox, had 
leaned, as a follower of Chatham, toward some scheme of 
federation between Great Britain and America, but was 
now coming around, reluctantly enough, to the possibility 
of separation. He thought independence might have to 
be granted, but only in return for important concessions. 
Meantime, so long as independence had not been given, 
he had, as Secretary of State for the Colonies, charge 
of the negotiations for peace. Seldom had English di- 
plomacy been so confused with party politics. 

In the summer of 1781, even before Yorktown, John 
Adams, John Jay, Benjamin Franklin, Henry Laurens, 
and Thomas Jefferson * had been commissioned to make 
peace 2 whenever the time should be ripe. For such a 

1 Adams was in Holland trying to negotiate a treaty and to ob- 
tain a loan; Jay was in Spain on a similar mission; Jefferson did 
not get away; Laurens was a prisoner in England at the time the 
commission was given, but, though released, was unable to take much 
part in the negotiations. Franklin knew that he could count only 
on Adams and Jay, but did not know when they would be able to 
get to Paris. 

2 Owing to the influence of the French representative in America, 
they had been instructed "to make the most candid and confidential 
communications upon all subjects to the ministers of our generous 
ally, the King of France; to undertake nothing in the negotiations 
for peace or truce without their knowledge and concurrence; and 
ultimately to govern yourselves by their advice and opinion." 
Such instructions were no hardship to Franklin, but his trust in 
the French Ministers was not fully shared by either Adams or Jay. 

286 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 

task Franklin was in a peculiarly good position. He 
represented America at the French Court, and was in the 
good books of both the Court and the people. He had, 
furthermore, the confidence of Vergennes. Before Frank- 
lin knew that Shelburne had joined the Rockingham 
Ministry, he had, on the strength of a former friendship 
and as the upshot of a call from Lord Cholmondeley, 
written Shelburne a letter in which he expressed the hope 
of a "general peace." It was natural that Shelburne, 
when he came into power, should return such a lead. 
With the knowledge of Rockingham and other members 
of the Cabinet he sent Richard Oswald, an elderly Scotch 
merchant who had been introduced to him by Adam 
Smith, and who had large interests in America, to treat 
with the American representative in Paris. Oswald, who 
was an honest if somewhat simple-minded gentleman, was 
cordially received by Franklin and was presented by him 
to Vergennes. 

The rest of the story the student will piece together 
from the source extracts which follow. It is a wise 
statement of Gardiner that no part of historical method 
is so fruitful as tracing the order of events in time. In no 
field of history is this so true as in diplomacy. The 
student can thread his way through the negotiations 
down to that point in June when the Cabinet through 
Shelburne empowered Oswald to treat with the American 
commissioners. Just at that time, when Fox announced 
his intention of resigning, Lord Rockingham died. Shel- 
burne was asked to head the new Cabinet, and Fox, of 
course, refused to enter it. Thomas Grenville, who had 
been Fox's appointee at Paris, was replaced by Lord 
Fitzherbert, and treaties of peace were concluded between 
England and the four nations with which she had been 
at war. 

287 



Source Problems in English History 



II. INTRODUCTION TO THE SOURCES 

i. The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, collected and 
edited by A. H. Smyth [New York, 1906], Vol. VIII. 
[Two important letters written by Oswald and Shelburne 
have been taken from Jared Sparks's edition of Frank- 
lin's works (Boston, 1840), Vol. IX.] 

2. The Life of William, Earl of Shelburne, afterward 
first Marquess of Lansdowne. With Extracts from his 
Papers and Correspondence [London, 1876], Vol. III. 

3. The Life and Times of Charles James Fox, by the 
Right Honorable Lord John Russell, M.P. [London, 
1853]- Vol. I. 

4. The Autobiography and Political Correspondence of 
. . . the Duke of Grafton, edited by Sir W. R. Anson 
[London, 1898]. 

The works above mentioned include several kinds of 
sources which may be classified under four headings. 

a. Franklin's Journal. 

Franklin wrote this as a report to Robert Livingston, 
Secretary of Foreign Affairs of the Congress of the United 
States, and he undoubtedly intended it for future publica- 
tion. He was conscious of the posterity to whom he was 
speaking, and knew that every part of his narrative could 
be tested by other accounts. As a matter of fact, Oswald's 
diary of events, which has been preserved in the Lans- 
downe MSS., agrees with Franklin's Journal in almost 
every detail. 

b. Letters from participants in the events. 

These are to be found in the three works mentioned 
above under 1,2, and 3. They tell the story at the time 
from the pens of men who took part, responsible and care- 
ful men who realized the meaning of words. Better evi- 

288 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 

dence could hardly be asked for. These letters are from 
Charles James Fox, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs 
in the Rockingham Ministry; William, Earl of Shelburne, 
Secretary of State for Home Affairs, Ireland, and the 
Colonies in the Rockingham Ministry; Thomas Grenville, 
English Minister Plenipotentiary to France; Richard 
Oswald, Shelburne's representative in Paris for negotiation 
with Franklin, and later English Minister Plenipotentiary 
to treat with the American Commissioners; Benjamin 
Franklin, American Commissioner Plenipotentiary to 
France and Commissioner to treat for peace with Eng- 
land. 

c. The Autobiography of the Duke of Grafton. 

Grafton was Lord Privy Seal in the Rockingham Cabi- 
net and his Autobiography contains his recollections of 
what happened in the Cabinet. Because it was put to- 
gether somewhat later and depends at least in part upon 
the accuracy of memory of an old man, it cannot be so 
fully trusted as letters written at the time. But a large 
part, including what is quoted, was based upon contem- 
porary memoranda. 

d. Minutes of Cabinet meetings. 

No formal minutes of Cabinet meetings were ever kept. 
Fox's notes of such sessions were purely for his own 
memory, and were probably put together after the sessions. 



III. QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY 

i. Write a consecutive narrative of the events concerning the 
negotiations from March 22 to July 1, 1782. 

2. Upon what basis did Oswald indicate that Shelburne was 

willing to begin negotiations? 

3. How much enlightenment did Franklin get from his first 

interview with Oswald? 
280 



Source Problems in English History 

4. Where does Oswald first show himself more honest than 

diplomatic? 

5. Why should Franklin hesitate to give the Notes on Canada 

to Oswald? Is the reason he offers for regretting his 
step the only reason he may have had? 

6. On what condition did Franklin give the Notes? 

7. Who saw the Notes in England? Were they of such a 

nature as to have deserved consideration by the whole 
Cabinet? 

8. Why did Shelburne not show the Notes to Rockingham? 

to Fox? 

9. Did Fox and Grenville read too much official significance into 

the Notes? 

10. What error in diplomatic courtesy did Grenville commit 

upon arriving in Paris? 

11. With whom did the English Cabinet consider that Grenville 

was sent to confer? To whom did he consider himself 
sent? 

12. How did Grenville 's first proposal to Vergennes compare 

with Oswald's first suggestion to Franklin? 

13. What diplomatic stand was Grenville in his first interview 

trying to force Vergennes into? 

14. What progress had been made at the end of that interview? 

15. Why was Oswald so uncommunicative on his second visit 

to Paris? 

16. What part did the Notes about Canada play in Oswald's 

second visit? 

17. In what attitude of mind was Franklin toward suggestions 

for a separate peace with America? Why? 

18. For what was Grenville in his first interview with Franklin 

trying to pave the way? 

19. Was Franklin sincere in all his answers? 

20. Did Grenville gain anything more from Franklin in this 

interview than Franklin tells us of in his Journal? 

21. What misstatement did Grenville make concerning his com- 

mission? How was the statement received by Franklin 
and Vergennes? 

290 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 

22. Was there any reason for the form of Grenville's com- 

mission? 

23. Was Franklin satisfied with Grenville's explanation? 

24. What was Grenville's motive in acquainting Franklin with 

one of his instructions? Was his action premature? 

25. State the two points of view in the English Cabinet with re- 

gard to acknowledging American independence. 

26. What was Franklin's and Vergennes's opinion of the English 

efforts to use the acknowledgment of American inde- 
pendence as part of the bargain? 

27. Compare Franklin's account of Grenville's visit on June 

1st with Grenville's account. 
38. Was Oswald in Paris secretly? Had Fox reason to know of 
his presence there or of his intention of being there? 

29. What was Grenville's explanation of Franklin's failure to 

discuss the terms of peace with him on June 1st? 

30. What explanation can be inferred from Franklin's account 

of the conversation? 

31. Do Oswald's and Franklin's accounts bear out the state- 

ment that Franklin was reserving his confidence for 
Oswald? 

32. How do you explain Franklin's refusal to discuss the terms 

of a treaty as he had promised to do? How did he 
explain it? How did Grenville? 

33. When did Franklin learn that Oswald would be given a 

separate commission if Franklin so desired? 

34. When and how did he act on that knowledge? Why not 

before? Does this throw any light on Grenville's 
letter to Fox (June 4th)? 

35. At whose instance was Oswald to be given a separate com- 

mission? 

36. What suggestion did Grenville make to get the negotiation 

wholly into Fox's hands? Would it have accomplished 
that result? 

37. How would you answer the two questions in Fox's letter to 

Grenville (June 10th) concerning possible charges 
against Shelburne? 

291 



Source Problems in English History 

38. Did Grenville discover "further proofs of duplicity" upon 

the part of Shelburne and Oswald? 

39. What is the importance of the Enabling Act in reference to 

Franklin's unwillingness to discuss terms? 

40. What estimate did Franklin make of the two men, Grenville 

and Oswald? 

41. What incident between June 3d and 15th might have af- 

fected Franklin's feeling toward Grenville? 

42. Was Grenville's failure due to Franklin's reticence? Shel- 

burne's duplicity? Oswald's interference? the English 
Cabinet situation? or his own diplomatic errors? 



IV. The Sources 

i . The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, collected and 
edited by A. H. Smyth. Journal of the Ne- 
gotiation for Peace with Great Britain. From 
March 21 to July 1, 1782, Vol. VIII, p. 459, et 
5 passim. 

Passy, q May, 1782. 
As since the change of ministry in England 
some serious professions have been made of their 
disposition to peace, and of their readiness to enter 
10 into a general treaty for that purpose; and as the 
concerns and claims of five nations are to be dis- 
cussed in that treaty, which must therefore be in- 
teresting to the present age, and to posterity, I am 
inclined to keep a journal of the proceedings, as far 
is as they come to my knowledge; and, to make it 
more complete, I will first endeavor to recollect what 
has already passed. Great affairs sometimes take 
their rise from small circumstances. . . . 

[Lord Cholmondeley going through Paris was intro- 

30 duced to Franklin and offered to take a letter from him 

to Shelburne, whom Franklin had known in England. In 

that letter Franklin expressed the hope that a "general 

293 



Source Problems in English History 

peace" might soon be made. In reply Shelburne sent 
Richard Oswald to discuss the possibilities of peace.] 

I entered into conversation with Mr. Oswald 
[April 15 th]. He was represented in the letter as 

5 fully apprized of Lord Shelburne's mind, and I was 
desirous of knowing it. All I could learn was, that 
the new ministry sincerely wished for peace; that 
they considered the object of the war to France and 
America as obtained; that, if the independence of 

10 the United States was agreed to, there was no other 
point in dispute, and therefore nothing to hinder a 
pacification; that they were ready to treat of peace, 
but intimated, that, if France should insist upon 
terms too humiliating to England, they could still 

15 continue the war, having yet great strength and 
many resources left. I let him know, that America 
would not treat but in concert with France, and that, 
my colleagues not being here, I could do nothing of 
importance in the affair; but that, if he pleased, I 

20 would present him to M. de Vergennes, Secretary of 
State for Foreign Affairs. . . . 

[Franklin to Shelburne. April 18, 1782.] 

... I have conversed a good deal with Mr. Oswald, and am much 
pleased with him. He appears to me a wise and honest man. I ac- 

25 quainted him, that I was commissioned, with others, to treat of and 
conclude a peace; that full powers were given us for that purpose, 
and that the Congress promised in good faith to ratify, confirm, and 
cause to be faithfully observed, the treaty we should make; but 
that we would not treat separately from France, and I proposed 

30 introducing him to the Count de Vergennes, to whom I communi- 
cated your Lordship's letter containing Mr. Oswald's character, as 

294 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 

a foundation for the interviews. . . . Being myself but one of the 
four persons now in Europe commissioned by the Congress to treat 
of peace, I can make no propositions of much importance without 
them. 

s [Journal.] In going to him [to give him the let- 
ter to carry to Shelburne], I had also in view the 
entering into a conversation, which might draw out 
something of the mind of his court on the subject 
of Canada and Nova Scotia. I had thrown some 

io loose thoughts on paper, which I intended to serve 
as memorandums for my discourse, but without a 
fixed intention of showing them to him. 

[Franklin suggested to Oswald that as peace without 
real reconciliation might bring about future quarrels, 

*5 England might well afford to give Canada to the United 
States by way of reparation for her scalping and burning 
parties. Oswald appeared "struck" with this discourse 
and asked to see his notes, which were at length given. 
The notes threw out the idea that Canada as a neighbor 

20 would be a danger to the United States, that England 
ought to give it up not only as reparation, but as a means 
of enabling Congress through the sale of lands to com- 
pensate the "royalists." The notes ended, "This is 
mere conversation matter between Mr. Oswald and Mr. 

as Franklin, as the former is not empowered to make proposi- 
tions and the latter cannot make any without the con- 
currence of his colleagues." Oswald took back also the 
letter from Franklin to Shelburne indicating his satisfac- 
tion with Oswald as a negotiator and saying further that 

30 he desired no other channel of communication between 
them.] 

295 



Source Problems in English History 

By the first opportunity after his departure, 
I wrote ... to Mr. Adams. ... I omitted only the 
paper of Notes for Conversation with Mr. Oswald, 
but gave the substance, as appears in the letter. 
s The reason of my omitting it was that, on reflection, 
I was not pleased with my having hinted a repara- 
tion to the Tories for their forfeited estates, and I 
was a little ashamed of my weakness in permitting 
the paper to go out of my hands. 

io [Shelburne sent Oswald back with a letter to Franklin, 
April 28th, telling of the decision of the Cabinet to send 
Oswald to him. Oswald was to settle "the preliminaries 
of time and place." "It is also determined," he wrote, 
"that Mr. Fox . . . shall send a proper person [Grenville], 

is who may confer and settle immediately with Monr. de 
Vergennes the further measures and proceedings. ... In 
the mean time Mr. Oswald is instructed to communicate 
to you my thoughts upon the principal objects to be set- 
tled." Oswald and Franklin went to see Vergennes and 

20 Oswald spoke of Grenville's expected arrival.] 

On the whole I was able to draw so little from Mr. 

Oswald of the sentiments of Lord Shelburne, who had 

mentioned him as intrusted with the communication 

of them, that I could not but wonder at his being 

as sent again to me. . . . 

On Tuesday I was at court as usual on that day. 

M. de Vergennes asked me, if Mr. Oswald had not 

opened himself farther to me? I acquainted him 

with the sight I had had of the Minute of Council, 

30 [An extract from which Oswald had shown Franklin.] 

296 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 

and of the loose expressions contained in it, of what 
was in contemplation. He seemed to think it odd 
that he had brought nothing more explicit. I sup- 
posed Mr. Grenville might be better furnished. 

s [Grenville arrived on May 8th, and, instead of going 
first to Versailles to Vergennes to whom he was credited, 
went to see Franklin, and presented to him an intro- 
ductory letter 1 from Fox.] 

I imagined the gentleman had been at Versailles, 
io as I supposed Mr. Grenville would first have waited 
on M. de Vergennes before he called on me. But 
finding in conversation that he had not, and that he 
expected me to introduce him, I immediately wrote 
to the minister. . . . 

15 [May 9th Franklin took Grenville for the interview 
with Vergennes, who received the young man cordially.] 

What my memory retains of the discourse amounts 
to little more than this, that, after mutual declara- 
tions of the good dispositions of the two courts, Mr. 

3 ° Grenville having intimated that, in case England 
gave America independence, France, it was expected, 
would return the conquests she had made of Brit- 
ish islands, receiving back those of Miquelon and 
St. Pierre. And, the original object of the war being 

as obtained, it was supposed that France would be 

x The letter dated May 1st began: "Though Mr. Oswald will, 
no doubt, have informed you of the nature of Mr. Grenville's com- 
■ mission," etc. 

297 



Source Problems in English History 

contented with that. The minister seemed to smile 
at the proposed exchange, and remarked that the 
offer of giving independence to America amounted 
to little: "America," says he, "does not ask it of 

5 you: there is Mr. Franklin; he will answer you as 
to that point." "To be sure," I said, "we do not 
consider ourselves as under any necessity of bar- 
gaining for a thing that is our own and which we 
have bought at the expense of much blood and 

io treasure, and which we are in full possession of." 

[Vergennes was quite as positive in refusing to go back 
to the basis of the treaty of 1763. England did not con- 
tent herself, he said, in that war with what she hoped at 
its beginning to attain. He agreed, however, to com- 
15 municate immediately with Spain and Holland.] 

Friday morning, the 10th of May, I went to Paris 
and visited Mr. Oswald. I found him in the same 
friendly dispositions, and very desirous of good, and 
seeing an end put to this ruinous war. But I got 
20 no farther light as to the sentiments of Lord Shel- 
burne respecting the terms. 

[On May 13 th Franklin learned that Oswald was to 
return to London at once.] 
Franklin to Shelburne. 

25 Passy, 13 May, 1782. 

... I then hoped that gentleman [Oswald] would have remained 

here some time, but his affairs, it seems, recall him sooner than he 

imagined. I hope he will return again, as I esteem him more, the 

more I am acquainted with him, and believe his moderation, pru- 

298 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 

dent counsels, and sound judgment may contribute much, not only 
to the speedy conclusion of a peace, but to the framing such a peace 
as may be firm and long lasting. . . . 

[Journal.] I went in the evening to Mr. Oswald's 

s lodgings with my letters, when he informed me, his 
intention was to return immediately hither from 
England. . . . We had but little conversation, for 
Mr. Grenville coming in, I . . . retired, that I might 
not interrupt their consultations. 

io Since his departure, Mr. Grenville has made me 
a visit; and entered into a conversation with me, 
exactly of the same tenor with the letters I formerly 
received from Mr. Hartley, stating suppositions 
that France might insist on points totally different 

15 from what had been the object of our alliance, and 
that in such case he should imagine we were not 
at all bound to continue the war to obtain such 
points for her, &c. I thought I could not give him 
a better answer to this kind of discourse than what 

*o I had given in two letters to Mr. Hartley, and, there- 
fore, calling for those letters, I read them to him. 
He smiled, and would have turned the conversation; 
but I gave a little more of my sentiments on the 
general subject of benefits, obligations, and grati- 

2s tude. 

[Franklin then gave a supposititious case carrying very 
far the duty and obligation of gratitude.] 

Mr. Grenville conceived that it was carrying grati- 
tude very far, to apply this doctrine to our situation 
20 299 



Source Problems in English History 

in respect to France, who was really the party 
served and obliged by our separation from England, 
as it lessened the power of her rival and relatively 
increased her own. 

s I told him, I was so strongly impressed with the 
kind assistance afforded us by France in our dis- 
tress, and the generous and noble manner in which 
it was granted, without exacting or stipulating for 
a single privilege, or particular advantage to herself 

io in our commerce, or otherwise, that I could never 
suffer myself to think of such reasonings for lessen- 
ing the obligation; and I hoped, and, indeed, did 
not doubt, but my countrymen were all of the same 
sentiments. 

*s Thus he gained nothing of the point he came to 
push; we parted, however, in good humour. His 
conversation is always polite, and his manner pleas- 
ing. As he expressed a strong desire to discourse 
with me on the means of a reconciliation with Amer- 

20 ica, I promised to consider the subject, and appointed 
Saturday the first day of June for our conversation, 
when he proposed to call on me. . . . 

Our business standing still at present till the re- 
turn of Mr. Oswald, gives me a void that I may fill 

as up with two or three circumstances. . . . 

[May 26th.] Mr. Grenville visited me. He ac- 
quainted me that his courier was returned, and had 
brought him full powers in form to treat for a peace 
with France and her allies. That he had been to 

300 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 

Versailles, and had shown his power to M. de Ver- 
gennes, and left a copy with him. . . . That Mr. 
Oswald had arrived in London. . . . 

He [Grenville] had requested me at our last inter- 

s view that, if I saw no impropriety in doing it, I 
would favor him with a sight of the treaty of alliance 
between France and America. I acquainted him 
that it was printed, but that if he could not readily 
meet with a copy, I would have one written for him. 

io And as he had not been able to find one, I this day 
gave it to him. . . . 

On Tuesday [May 28th] I dined at Versailles with 
some friends, so was not at home when the Marquis 
de Lafayette called to acquaint me, that M. de Ver- 

15 gennes had informed him, that the full power re- 
ceived by Mr. Grenville from London, and com- 
municated by him, related to France only. The 
Marquis left for me this information, which I could 
not understand. On Wednesday [May 29th] I was 

30 at court, and saw the copy of the power. It ap- 
peared full with regard to treating with France, but 
mentioned not a word of her allies. And as M. de 
Vergennes had explicitly and constantly from the 
beginning declared to the several messengers, Mr. 

23 Forth, Mr. Oswald, and Mr. Grenville, that France 
could only treat in concert with her allies, and it had 
in consequence been declared on the part of the 
British ministry, that they consented to treat for a 
general peace, and at Paris, the sending this partial 

301 



Source Problems in English History 

power appeared to be insidious, and a mere inven- 
tion to occasion delay, the late disaster to the French 
fleet having probably given the court of England 
fresh courage and other views. 

s M. de Vergennes said he should see Mr. Gren- 
ville on Thursday, and would speak his mind to 
him on the subject very plainly. "They want," said 
he, "to treat with us for you, but this the King will 
not agree to. He thinks it not consistent with the 

10 dignity of your state. You will treat for yourselves ; 
and every one of the powers at war with England 
will make its own treaty. All that is necessary to 
be observed for our common security is, that the 
treaties go hand in hand, and are signed all on the 

15 same day." 

... On Friday, May 31st, Mr. Oswald called on 
me, being just returned, and brought me . . . letters 
from David Hartley, and two letters from Lord Shel- 
burne, the first of which had been written before his 

20 arrival. . . . 

[Shelburne's first letter was an answer to Franklin's of 

May 10th, and said that Oswald would stay in Paris 

until further orders. The second was written after 

Oswald went back to England, and announced his in- 

25 tended return to Paris.] 

I had not then time to converse much with Mr. 
Oswald, and he promised to come and breakfast 
with me on Monday [June 3d]. 

Saturday, June 1st, Mr. GrenviUe came, according 
3°» 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 

to appointment. Our conversation began by my 
acquainting him, that I had seen the Count de Ver- 
gennes, and had perused the copy left with him of 
the power to treat. That after what he, Mr. Gren- 

s ville told me of its being to treat with France and 
her allies, I was a little surprised to find in it no 
mention of the allies, and that it was only to treat 
with the King of France and his ministers; that at 
Versailles there was some suspicion of its being in- 

10 tended to occasion delay; the professed desire of 
speedy peace being perhaps abated in the British 
court since its late successes; but that I imagined 
the words relating to the allies might have been ac- 
cidentally omitted in transcribing, or that, perhaps, 

is he had a special power to treat with us distinct from 
the other. 

He answered that the copy was right, and that 
he had no such special power in form, but that his 
instructions were full to that purpose, and that he 

20 was sure the ministry had no desire of delay, nor any 
of excluding us from the treaty, since the greatest 
part of those instructions related to treating with 
me. That to convince me of the sincerity of his 
court respecting us, he would acquaint me with one 

25 of his instructions, though perhaps the doing it now 
was premature, and therefore a little inconsistent 
with the character of a politician, but he had that 
confidence in me that he should not hesitate to in- 
form me (though he wished that at present it should 

305 



Source Problems in English History 

go no further) , he was instructed to acknowledge the in- 
dependence of America, previous to the commencement 
of the treaty. And he said he could only account for 
the omission of America in the power, by supposing 

s that it was an old official form copied from that 
given to Mr. Stanley, when he came over hither be- 
fore the last peace. Mr. Grenville added that he 
had immediately after his interview with M. de 
Vergennes, despatched a courier to London, and 

io hoped that with his return the difficulty would be 
removed; that he was perfectly assured their late 
successes had made no change in the dispositions of 
his court to peace, and that he had more reason 
than M. de Vergennes to complain of delay, since 

is five days were spent before he could obtain a pass- 
port for his courier, and then it was not to go and 
return by way of Calais, but to go by Ostend, which 
would occasion a delay of five days longer. Mr. 
Grenville then spoke much of the high opinion the 

20 present ministry had of me, and their great esteem 
for me. . . . 

Mr. Grenville then discoursed of our resolution 
not to treat without our allies. "This," says he, "can 
properly only relate to France, with whom you have 

as a treaty of alliance, but you have none with Spain, 
you have none with Holland. If Spain and Holland, 
and even if France should insist on unreasonable 
terms of advantage to themselves, after you have 
obtained all you want, and are satisfied, can it be 

304 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 

right that America should be dragged on in a war 
for their interests only?" He stated this matter in 
various lights and pressed it earnestly. 

I resolved from various reasons to evade the dis- 

5 cussion, and therefore answered that the intended 
treaty not being yet begun, it appeared unnecessary 
to enter at present into considerations of that kind. 
The preliminaries being once settled and the treaty 
commenced, if any of the other powers should make 

io extravagant demands on England, and insist on our 
continuing the war till those were complied with, 
it would then be time enough for us to consider 
what our obligations were, and how far they ex- 
tended. The first thing necessary was for him to 

*s procure the full powers, the next for us to assemble 
the plenipotentiaries of all the belligerent parties, 
and then propositions might be mutually made, re- 
ceived, considered, answered, or agreed to. In the 
mean time I would just mention to him, that, though 

20 we were yet under no obligations to Spain by treaty, 
we were under obligations of gratitude for the as- 
sistance she had afforded us ; and as Mr. Adams had 
some weeks since commenced a treaty in Holland, 
the terms of which I was not yet acquainted with, I 

2 5 knew not but that we might have already some al- 
liance and obligations contracted there. And per- 
haps we ought, however, to have some consideration 
for Holland on this account, that it was in vengeance 
for the friendly disposition shown by some of her 

305 



Source Problems in English History 

people to make a treaty of commerce with us, that 
England had declared the war against her. 

He said, it would be hard upon England, if, having 
given reasonable satisfaction to one or two of her 

s four enemies, she could not have peace with those 
till she had complied with whatever the others might 
demand, however unreasonable, for so she might 
be obliged to pay for every article fourfold. I ob- 
served that when she made her propositions, the 

io more advantageous they were to each, the more it 
would be the interest of each to prevail with the 
others to accept those offered to them. We then 
spoke of the reconciliation; but his full power not 
being yet come, I chose to defer entering upon that 

is subject at present. I told him I had thoughts of 
putting down in writing the particulars that I 
judged would conduce to that end, and of adding 
my reasons, [but] that this required a little time, 
and I had been hindered by accidents; which was 

20 true, for I had begun to write, but had postponed it 
on account of his defective power to treat. But I 
promised to finish it as soon as possible. He pressed 
me earnestly to do it. . . . 

On Monday the 3rd, Mr. Oswald came according 

as to appointment. 

[He spoke of his conversations with Shelburne, Fox, and 
Rockingham, and then, with "utmost frankness," told 
Franklin that England had to have peace, that "her 
enemies have the ball at their f oot. ' ' Franklin was puzzled 

3° 6 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 

at such "simplicity and honesty " and somewhat suspicious 
of its meaning. Oswald went on to speak of the esteem 
in which the ministers held Franklin and finally showed 
him a memorandum that Shelburne had given him, as 
s follows]: 

i. That I am ready to correspond more particularly 
with Dr. Franklin if wished. 

2. That the Enabling Act is passing, with the in- 
sertion of Commissioners recommended by Mr. Oswald; 

*o and on our part Commissioners will be named, or any 
character given to Mr. Oswald, which Dr. Franklin 
and he may judge conducive to a final settlement of 
things between Great Britain and America; which 
Dr. Franklin very properly says, requires to be treated 

is in a very different manner from the peace between 
Great Britain and France, who have been always at 
enmity with each other. . . . 

[Journal.] We now came to another article of the 
note, viz. "On our part Commissioners will be 

20 named, or any character given to Mr. Oswald which 
Dr. Franklin and he may judge conducive to a final 
settlement of things between Great Britain and 
America." 

This he said was left entirely to me, for he had no 

as will in the affair; he did not desire to be farther 
concerned, than to see it en train; he had no personal 
views either of honor or profit. He had now seen 
and conversed with Mr. Grenville, thought him a 
very sensible young gentleman, and very capable 

3°7 



Source Problems in English History 

of the business; he did not therefore see any farther 
occasion there was for himself; but if I thought 
otherwise, and conceived he might be farther useful, 
he was content to give his time and service, in any 

5 character or manner I should think proper. I said 
his knowledge of America where he had lived, and 
with every part of which and of its commerce and 
circumstances he was well acquainted, made me 
think, that in persuading the ministry to things 

io reasonable relating to that country, he could speak 
or write with more weight than Mr. Grenville, and 
therefore I wished him to continue in the service; 
and I asked him, whether he would like to be joined 
in a general commission for treating with all the 

?s powers at war with England, or to have a special 
commission to himself for treating with America 
only. He said he did not choose to be concerned in 
treating with the foreign powers, for he was not 
sufficiently a master of their affairs, or of the French 

20 language, which probably would be used in treating; 
if, therefore, he accepted of any commission, it 
should be that of treating with America. I told him 
I would write to Lord Shelburne on the subject ; but 
Mr. Grenville having some time since despatched a 

35 courier, partly on account of the commission, who 
was not yet returned, I thought it well to wait a 
few days, till we could see what answer he would 
bring, or what measures were taken. This he ap- 
proved of. 

308 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 

The truth is, he appears so good and so reason- 
able a man, that though I have no objection to Mr. 
Grenville, I should be loth to lose Mr. Oswald. He 
seems to have nothing at heart but the good of man- 
5 kind, and putting a stop to mischief; the other, a 
young statesman, may be supposed to have naturally 
a little ambition of recommending himself as an 
able negotiator. . . . 

Saturday, June 8th. I received some news- 
io papers from England, in one of which is the follow- 
ing paragraph. 

[From the London Evening Post of May 30, 1782.] 

"If reports on the spot speak truth, Mr. Grenville, 

in his first visit to Dr. Franklin, gained a considerable 

15 point of information, as to the powers America had 

retained for treating SEPARATELY with Great Britain, 

in case her claims, or demands, were granted. 1 '' 

[There then follow quotations from the treaty with 
France as well as arguments that America, if granted in- 
20 dependence, might make a separate peace.] 

I conjecture that this must be an extract from a 
letter of Mr. Grenville 's; but it carries an appear- 
ance as if he and I had agreed in these imaginary 
discoveries of America's being at liberty to make 
2 5 peace without France, whereas my whole discourse 
in the strongest terms declared our determinations 
to the contrary, and the impossibility of our acting 
not only contrary to the treaty, but the duties of 

309 



Source Problems in English History 

gratitude and honor, of which nothing is mentioned. 
This young negotiator seems to value himself on 
having obtained from me a copy of the treaty. I 
gave it him freely, at his request, it being not so 
5 much a secret as he imagined, having been printed, 
first in all the American papers soon after it was 
made, then at London in Almon's Remembrancer, 
which I wonder he did not know; and afterward in 
a collection of the American Constitutions, published 
"> by order of Congress. As such imperfect accounts 
of our conversations find their way into the English 
papers, I must speak to this gentleman of its im- 
propriety. 

[Franklin went to Versailles and laid before Vergennes 

*s all the letters and detailed to him the substance of all the 

conversations with both Grenville and Oswald, and they 

agreed on the necessity of acting in concert and preventing 

any separation of the countries concerned.] 

Saturday, the 15th June. . . . Mr. Grenville came, 
30 and acquainted me with the return of his courier, 
and that he had brought the full powers. . . . That 
the instrument was in the same terms with the 
former, except that, after the power to treat with the 
King of France, or his ministers, there was an addi- 
35 tion of words importing a power to treat with the 
ministers of any other Prince or State whom it 
might concern. . . . Mr. Grenville then said to me, 
he hoped all difficulties were now removed, and 

310 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 

that we might proceed in the good work. I asked 
him if the Enabling Bill was passed? He said, no. 
It had passed the Commons, and had been committed 
in the House of Lords, but was not yet completed. 

s [He assured Franklin that it would be done before 
Parliament was prorogued.] I then observed to him 
that, though we Americans considered ourselves as 
a distinct independent power, or State, yet as the 
British government had always hitherto affected 

io to consider us only as rebellious subjects, and as the 
Enabling Act was not yet passed, I did not think it 
could be fairly supposed, that his court intended by 
the general words, any other Prince or State, to in- 
clude a people whom they did not allow to be a 

is state; and that therefore I doubted the sufficiency 
of his power as to treating with America, though it 
might be good as to Spain and Holland. He replied 
that he himself had no doubt of the sufficiency of his 
power, and was willing to act upon it. I then de- 

20 sired to have a copy of the power, which he accord- 
ingly promised me. 

He would have entered into conversation on the 
topic of reconciliation, but I chose still to wave it, 
till I should find the negotiation more certainly com- 

fl s menced; and I showed him the London paper con- 
taining the article above transcribed, that he might 
see how our conversations were misrepresented, and 
how hazardous it must be for me to make any prop- 
ositions of the kind at present. He seemed to treat 

3 1 * 



Source Problems in English History 

the newspaper lightly, as of no consequence; but 
I observed that, before he had finished the reading 
of the article, he turned to the beginning of the paper 
to see the date, which made me suspect that he 
s doubted whether it might not have taken its rise 
from some of his letters. . . . 

Monday, the 17th. ... I find myself in some per- 
plexity with regard to these two negotiators. Mr. 
Oswald appears to have been the choice of Lord 

10 Shelburne, Mr. Grenville that of Mr. Secretary 
Fox. Lord Shelburne is said to have lately ac- 
quired much of the King's confidence. Mr. Fox 
calls himself the minister of the people, and it is cer- 
tain his popularity is lately much increased. Lord 

is Shelburne seems to wish to have the management of 
the treaty ; Mr. Fox seems to think it in his depart- 
ment. I hear that the understanding between these 
ministers is not quite perfect. Mr. Grenville is 
clever, and seems to feel reason as readily as Mr. 

ao Oswald, though not so ready to own it. Mr. Os- 
wald appears quite plain and sincere; I sometimes 
a little doubt Mr. Grenville. Mr. Oswald, an old 
man, seems now to have no desire but that of being 
useful in doing good. Mr. Grenville, a young man, 

25 naturally desirous of acquiring reputation, seems 
to aim at that of being an able negotiator. Oswald 
does not solicit to have any share in the business 
but, submitting the matter to Lord Shelburne and 
me, expresses only his willingness to serve, if we 

312 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 

think he may be useful, and is equally willing to 
be excused, if we judge there is no occasion for him. 
Grenville seems to think the whole negotiation com- 
mitted to him, and to have no idea of Mr. Oswald's 

5 being concerned in it, and is therefore willing to ex- 
tend the expressions in his commission, so as to 
make them comprehend America, and this beyond 
what I think they will bear. I imagine we might, 
however, go on very well with either of them, though 

io I should rather prefer Oswald; but I apprehend diffi- 
culties if they are both employed, especially if there 
is any misunderstanding between their principals. I 
must, however, write to Lord Shelburne, proposing 
something in consequence of his offer of vesting Mr. 

is Oswald with any commission, which that gentle- 
man and I should think proper. 

[Franklin was taken sick the next day and on June 
23d Jay arrived. On June 27th Franklin gave Oswald 
the following letter concerning his appointment as a 
20 commissioner]: 

Passy, June 27, 1782. 
To Richard Oswald: 

Sir: The opinion I have of your candor, probity, and good un- 
derstanding, and good will to both countries, made me hope you 
25 would have been vested with the character of plenipotentiary to 
treat with those from America. 

[He then repeats the objections given above to the power as- 
signed to Grenville.] 

I cannot but hope that it is still intended to vest you with the 
30 character above mentioned, respecting the treaty with America, 
either separately or in conjunction with Mr. Grenville, as to the 
wisdom of your ministers may seem best. . . . 

313 



Source Problems in English History 

Sunday, July ist, Mr. Grenville called on me. 
[Here the journal abruptly ends.] 
2. Life of William, Earl of Shelburne . . . with Extracts 
from his Papers and Correspondence. By Lord 
5 Edmond Fitzmaurice. Vol. III. 

p. 196. [Shelburne to Fox. May 25, 1782.] 
I am just now writing to Mr. Oswald, and instruct 
him of course to remain at Paris as Dr. Franklin 
desires, till he has orders to return. I likewise de- 
10 sire him to communicate freely to Mr. Grenville 
whatever may be of use to him, taking it for granted 
that you will instruct Mr. Grenville to apprize him 
of the power sent him, and of such other matters 
as may be useful in governing his intercourse with 
is Dr. Franklin and the other American Commission- 
ers, that it may not be supposed in France that 
there is or can be any difference among us upon the 
great subjects of peace and war. 

p. 197. [Shelburne to Oswald. May 25, 1782.] 
20 ... It is his Majesty's pleasure, that you should 
furnish Mr. Grenville any lights which may occur to 
you in the course of your communication with any 
of these gentlemen [the American Commissioners], 
which may be useful to him, in his transactions with 
25 the French ministers, or those of any of the other 
powers of Europe who may be about to enter into 
the proposed negotiation, and I must recommend 
to you to omit no opportunity of letting it be under- 
stood that there subsists the strictest union in his 

3i4 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 

Majesty's Council upon the great subject of peace 
and war. 

p. 216. [Oswald to Shelburne. July 11, 1782.] 
I thank your Lordship for the caution with re- 

s spect to affairs under Mr. Grenville's direction 
[Shelburne had cautioned him not to give any 
offence to Grenville]. It would have been quite 
wrong in me to meddle with it in any shape, and 
so cautious was I, that I scarce asked him any ques- 

10 tion as to the progress of his affairs, thinking it 
sufficient if by an intercourse with Dr. Franklin, I 
could help to bring on a settlement with the Colo- 
nies. . . . Even in this business, I had scarce taken 
any step since my last coming over in the end of 

is May. It was impossible to do so, as Mr. Franklin 
seemed to attend to the expectation and issue of Mr. 
Grenville's powers and instructions; which he said 
were imperfect at first, and not completed at last 
to his satisfaction with respect to them. So that 

20 the Doctor did not incline to talk of business to me, 
and I had nothing to write, even if I had known the 
times when Mr. Grenville's couriers were despatched. 
The situation was not agreeable, but I could not 
help it. And I believe the Doctor was not pleased, 

2 s although he said little to me on the subject. 

3. Letters from the Lansdowne MSS., quoted in foot- 
notes to Sparks's edition of Franklin's works 
from the MS. copies lent to Mr. Sparks by the 
Marquess of Lansdowne. Vol. VIII. 
21 315 



Source Problems in English History 

p. 323. [Oswald to Shelburne. June 9, 1782.] 
I have nothing of business to trouble your Lord- 
ship with, only that upon on one occasion, since my 
last arrival, Dr. Franklin said they (the Americans) 

5 had been totally left out in Mr. Grenville's powers, 
as they extended only to treating with the minister 
of France. I told him the deficiency would, no 
doubt, be supplied in due time, as might be supposed, 
since, in the mean while, they had been assured by 

10 Mr. Grenville, that his Majesty had agreed to grant 
independence in the first instance. The Doctor said 
it was true, and he was glad of it, and supposed that 
was all that could be done, until the act depending 
in Parliament was passed. He then talked of 

is treaties, and said, he thought the best way to come 
at a general peace was to treat separately with each 
party, and under distinct commissions to one and 
the same, or different persons. . . . Mr. Grenville 
being very well with the Doctor, he has, no doubt, 

20 mentioned the same things to him; yet I thought 
it my duty to communicate to him the substance of 
this conversation. 

p. 345. [Shelburne to Oswald. June 30, 1782, 
Whitehall.] 

25 ... You will observe that we have adopted his 
[Franklin's] idea of the method to come to a general 
pacification by treating separately with each party. 
I cannot but entertain a firm reliance, that the 
appointment of the particular commissioners will 

316 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 

be no less satisfactory to him. He has very lately 
warranted me to depend upon that effect in the in- 
stance of your nomination. . . . 

4. Autobiography of the Duke of Grafton, p. 318. 

s "On this gentleman's [Mr. Oswald's] return [May 
14th] it was Mr. Fox's wish to have placed the whole 
negotiation with any of the powers at war into the 
hands of Mr. Grenville; but the Cabinet decided 
that, as the Doctor desired Mr. Oswald's return, to 

10 whom he had spoken with openness and freedom, it 
would be impolitic not to comply with a request of 
this nature. Besides, it was not yet fully known in 
what light our offers to treat might be received by 
the French ministry. The line of our proposals was 

is independence for America, and the restitution of 
matters to the state in which they stood on the 
Treaty of Paris; and these were to be considered as 
the basis of the negotiation." 

5. Memorials and Correspondence of Charles James 
20 Fox. Edited by Lord John Russell. Vol. I. 

p. 345. [Cabinet Minute. 1 April 23, 1782.] 
Presents-Lord Chancellor, Lord President, Duke 

of Richmond, Marquis of Rockingham, Duke of 

Grafton, Lord Ashburton, Lord John Cavendish, 
as Lord Keppel, General Conway, Mr. Fox, Lord Shel- 

burne. 

It is humbly submitted to his Majesty that Mr. 

Oswald shall return to Paris, with authority to name 

1 These minutes are taken from Fox's papers. 
3?7 



Source Problems in English History 

Paris as the place, and to settle with Dr. Franklin 
the most convenient time for setting on foot a 
negotiation for a general peace, and to represent 
to him that the principal points in contemplation 

s are — The allowance of independence to America 
upon Great Britain's being restored to the situation 
she was placed in by the treaty of 1763, and that 
Mr. Fox shall submit to the consideration of the 
King a proper person to make a similar communica- 

10 tion to Mons. de Vergennes. 

p. 351. [Cabinet Minute. May 18, 1782.] 
Present — Lord Chancellor, Lord President, Duke 
of Richmond, Lord Rockingham, Lord Shelburne, 
Lord John Cavendish, Lord Keppel, Lord Ashburton, 

is General Conway, Mr. Fox. 

It is humbly submitted to your Majesty, that 
your Majesty will be pleased to direct Mr. Fox to 
order full powers to be given to Mr. Grenville to 
treat and conclude at Paris, and also to direct Mr. 

20 Fox to instruct Mr. Grenville to make propositions 
of peace to the belligerent powers upon the basis 
of independence to the thirteen colonies in North 
America, and of the Treaty of Paris; and in case of 
such proposition not being accepted, to call upon 

as Monsieur de Vergennes to make some proposition 
on his part, which Mr. Grenville will, of course, re- 
port to Mr. Fox. 

P- 357- [Cabinet Minute. May 23, 1782.] 
Present — Lord Chancellor, Lord Privy Seal, Lord 
318 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 

Rockingham, Lord Shelburne, Lord John Cavendish, 
Lord Keppel, Lord Ashburton, General Conway, 
Mr. Fox. 

It is humbly recommended to your Majesty to 

5 direct Mr. Fox to instruct Mr. Grenville to propose 

the independency of America in the first instance, 

instead of making it a condition of a general treaty. 

P- 359- [Grenville to Fox. Paris, June 4, 1782.] 

. . . Recollect always that this letter is written in 

10 that confidence, and I am sure I never can repent 
of having sent it. You will easily see from the 
tenor of the correspondence we have hitherto had, 
that what little use I could be of to you here, ap- 
peared to me to be in the communication that I had 

15 with Franklin. I considered the rest of the negotia- 
tion as dependent upon that, and the only possible 
immediate advantages which were to be expected, 
seemed to me to rest in the jealousy which the French 
court would entertain of not being thoroughly sup- 

20 ported in everything by America. The degree of 
confidence which Franklin seemed inclined to place 
in me, and which he expressed to me, more than 
once, in the strongest terms, very much favoured this 
idea, and encouraged me in wishing to learn from 

2 s him what might be, in future, ground for a partial 
connection between England and America ; I say in 
future, because I have never hitherto much believed 
in any treaty of the year 1782, and my expectation, 
even from the strongest of Franklin's expressions, 

3*9 



Source Problems in English History 

was not of an immediate turn in our favour, or any 
positive advantage from the Commissioners in Eu- 
rope, till the people of America should cry out to 
them, from seeing that England was meeting their 

5 wishes. It was in this light, too, that I saw room to 
hope for some good effects from a voluntary offer of 
unconditional independence to America: a chance 
which looked the more tempting, as I own I con- 
sidered the sacrifice as but a small one, and such as, 

io had I been an American, I had thought myself little 
obliged to Great Britain in this moment for grant- 
ing, except from an idea that, if it was an article of 
treaty, it would have been as much given by France 
as by England. 

is I repeat this only to remind you that, from these 
considerations, the whole of my attention has been 
given to Franklin, and that I should have con- 
sidered myself as losing my time here, if it had not 
been directed to that subject. I believe I told you 

20 in my last that I had very sanguine expectations of 
Franklin's being inclined to speak out when I should 
see him next; indeed, he expressly told me that he 
would think over all the points likely to establish 
a solid reconciliation between England and America, 

as and that he would write his mind upon them, in 
order that we might examine them together more in 
order, confiding, as he said, in me, that I would not 
state them as propositions from him, but as being 
my own ideas of what would be useful to both 

320 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 

countries. (I interrupt myself here, to remind you 
of the obligation I must put you under not to men- 
tion this.) For this very interesting communica- 
tion, which I had long laboured to get, he fixed the 

s fourth day, which was last Saturday [June ist]; but 
on Friday [May 31st] morning Mr. Oswald came, and 
having given me your letters, he went immediately 
to Franklin, to carry some to him. I kept my ap- 
pointment at Passy the next morning, and in order 

10 to give Franklin the greatest confidence, at the same 
time, too, not knowing how much Mr. Oswald might 
have told him, I began with saying that, though 
under the difficulty which M. de Vergennes and he 
himself had made to my full power, it was not the 

is moment as a politician, perhaps, to make further 
explanations till that difficulty should be relieved; 
yet to show him the confidence I put in him, I would 
begin by telling him that I was authorized to offer 
the independence in the first instance, instead of 

20 making it an article of general treaty. He expressed 
great satisfaction at this, especially, he said, because, 
by having done otherwise, we should have seemed to 
have considered America, as in the same degree of 
connection with France, which she had been under 

25 with us, whereas America wished to be considered 
as a power free and clear to all the world; but when 
I came to lead the discourse to the subject which he 
had promised four days before, I was a good deal 
mortified to find him put it off altogether till he 

321 



Source Problems in English History 

should be more ready; and, notwithstanding my re- 
minding him of his promise, he only answered that 
it should be in some days. What passed between 
Mr. Oswald and me will explain to you the reason 

s of this disappointment. Mr. Oswald told me that 
Lord Shelburne had proposed to him, when last in 
England, to take a commission to treat with the Ameri- 
can ministers ; that upon his mentioning it to Frank- 
lin now, it seemed perfectly agreeable to him, and 

io even to be what he had very much wished, Mr. Os- 
wald adding that he wished only to assist the busi- 
ness, and had no other view; he mixed with this a 
few regrets that there should be any difference be- 
tween the two offices, and when I asked upon what 

15 subject, he said owing to the Rockingham party 
being too ready to give up everything. You will 
observe though — for it is on that account that I give 
you this narrative — that this intended appointment 
has effectually stopped Franklin's mouth to me, and 

ao that when he is told that Mr. Oswald is to be the com- 
missioner to treat with him, it is but natural that he 
should reserve his confidence for the quarter so point- 
ed out to him ; nor does this secret seem only known 
to Franklin, as Lafayette said laughingly yesterday, 

35 that he had just left Lord Shelburne' s ambassador at 
Passy. Indeed, this is not the first moment of a 
separate negotiation, for Mr. Oswald, suspecting 
by something that I dropped that Franklin had 
talked to me about Canada (though, by the by, he 

322 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 

never had), told me this circumstance as follows: — 
When he went to England the last time but one, he 
carried with him a paper intrusted to him by Frank- 
lin under condition that it should be shown only to 
s Lord Shelburne and returned into his own hands at 
Passy. This paper, under the title of 'Notes of a 
Conversation,' contained an idea of Canada being 
spontaneously ceded by England to the thirteen 
provinces, in order that Congress might sell the un- 
io appropriated lands and make a fund thereby, in 
order to compensate the damages done by the Eng- 
lish army, and even those, too, sustained by the 
royalists. This paper, given with many precautions 
for fear of its being known to the French court, to 
is whom it was supposed not to be agreeable, Mr. Os- 
wald showed to Lord Shelburne, who, after keeping 
it a day, as Mr. Oswald supposes, to show to the 
King, returned it to him, and it was by him brought 
back to Franklin. I say nothing to the proposition 
20 itself, to the impolicy of bringing a strange neighbor- 
hood to the Newfoundland fishery, or to the little 
reason that England would naturally see, in having 
lost thirteen provinces, to give away a fourteenth; 
but I mention it to show you an early trace of sepa- 
ls rate negotiation which perhaps you did not before 
know. 

Under these circumstances, I felt very much tempt- 
ed to go over and explain them to you viva voce, 
rather than by letter, and I must say, with the 

323 



Source Problems in English History 

farther intention of suggesting to you the only idea 
that seems likely to answer your purpose, and it is 
this : the Spanish Ambassador will, in a day or two, 
have the powers from his court ; the Americans are 

s here, so are the French; why should you not, then, 
consider this as a Congress in full form, and send 
here a person of rank, such as Lord Fitzwilliam (if 
he would come) , so as to have the whole negotiation 
in the hands of one person? You would by that 

io means recover within your compass the essential 
part, which is now out of it ; nor do I see how Lord 
Shelburne could object to such an appointment, 
which would, in every respect, much facilitate the 
business. ... I must entreat you very earnestly to 

is consider this, to see the impossibility of my assist- 
ing you under this contrariety; to see how much the 
business itself will suffer, if carried on with the 
jealousy of these clashing interests; and to see 
whether it may not all be prevented by some single 

20 appointment in high rank, as that I mentioned. . . . 
Once more I tell you, I cannot fight a daily battle 
with Mr. Oswald and his secretary; it would be 
neither for the advantage of the business, for your 
interest or your credit or mine, and even if it was, 

as I could not do it. 

Concluding, then, the American business as out 
of the question, which personally I cannot be sorry 
for, you surely have but one of two things to do; 
either to adopt the proposition of a new dignified 

324 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 

Peer's appointment, which, being single, may bring 
back the business to you by comprehending it all in 
one; or Lord Shelburne must have his minister here, 
and Mr. Fox his; by doing which, Mr. Fox will be 
s pretty near as much out of the secret — at least,-, of 
what is most essential — as if he had nobody here, and 
the only real gainers by it will be the other minis- 
ters, who cannot fail to profit of such a jumble. . . . 
Adieu. Let Lord Fitzwilliam answer my letter. 

io [ThOS. GRENVILLE;] 

p. 366. [Fox to Grenville. St. James's, June 10, 
1782.] 

I received late the night before last your interest- 
ing letter of the 4th, and you may easily conceive 

is am not a little embarrassed by its contents; In the 
first place, it was not possible to comply with your 
injunction of perfect secrecy in a case where steps 
of such importance are necessary to be taken, and 
therefore I have taken upon me (for which I must 

20 trust to your friendship to excuse me) to show your 
letter to Lord Rockingham, the Duke of Richmond, 
and Lord John, who are all as full of indignation at 
its contents as one might reasonably expect honest 
men to be. We are now perfectly resolved to cOme to 

as an explanation upon the business, if it is possible 
so to do without betraying any confidence reposed 
in me by you or in you by others. The two prin- 
cipal points which occur are the paper relative to 
Canada, of which I had never heard till I received 

32s 



Source Problems in English History 

your letter, and the intended investment of Mr. 
Oswald with full powers, which was certainly meant 
for the purpose of diverting Franklin's confidence 
from you into another channel. With these two 
s points we wish to charge Shelburne directly; but 
pressing as the thing is, and interesting as it is both 
to our situations and to the affairs of the public, 
which I fear are irretrievably injured by this in- 
trigue, and which must be ruined if it is suffered to 

io go on, we are resolved not to stir a step till we hear 
again from you, and know precisely how far we are 
at liberty to make use of what you have discovered. 
If this matter should produce a rupture, and con- 
sequently become more or less the subject of public 

is discussion, I am sensible the Canada paper cannot 
be mentioned by name; but might it not be said 
that we had discovered that Shelburne had withheld 
from our knowledge matters of importance to the 
negotiation? And, with respect to the other point, 

20 might it not be said, without betraying anybody, 
that while the King had one avowed and authorized 
minister at Paris, measures were taken for lessening 
his credit, and for obstructing his inquiries, by an- 
nouncing a new intended commission, of which the 

25 Cabinet here had never been apprized? Do, pray, 
my dear Grenville, consider the incredible impor- 
tance of this business in every view, and write 
me word precisely how far you can authorize us to 
make use of your intelligence. It is more than pos- 

326 



Beginning of Peace Negotiations 

sible that before this reaches you, many other cir- 
cumstances may have occurred which may afford 
further proofs of this duplicity of conduct, and if 
they have, I am sure they will not have escaped 

s your observation. If this should be the case, you 
will see the necessity of acquainting me with them 
as soon as possible. You see what is our object, and 
you can easily judge what sort of evidence will be 
most useful to us. When the object is attained, 

io that is, when the duplicity is proved, to what con- 
sequences we ought to drive, whether to an abso- 
lute rupture, or merely to the recall of Oswald and 
the simplification of this negotiation, is a point that 
may be afterwards considered. I own I incline to the 

is more decisive measure, and so, I think, do those with 
whom I must act in concert. I am very happy in- 
deed that you did not come yourself; the mischiefs 
that would have happened from it to our affairs 
are incredible, and I must beg of you, nay, entreat 

20 and conjure you, not to think of taking any pre- 
cipitate step of this nature. As to the idea of re- 
placing you with Lord Fitzwilliam, not only it would 
be very objectionable on account of the mistaken 
notion it would convey of things being much riper 

as than they are; but it would, as I conceive, be no 
remedy to the evil. Whether the King's minister 
at Paris be an Ambassador Extraordinary, or a 
Minister Plenipotentiary, can make no difference as 
to the question. The clandestine manner of carry- 

3 2 7 



Source Problems in English History 

ing on a separate negotiation, which we complain of, 
would be equally practicable and equally blameable 
if Lord Fitzwilliam was Ambassador, as it is now that 
Mr. Grenville is Plenipotentiary. I must, therefore, 

s again entreat you, as a matter of personal kindness 
to me, to remain a little longer at Paris ; if you were 
to leave it, all sorts of suspicion would be raised. 
It is of infinite consequence that we should have it 
to say that we have done all in our power to make 

io peace, not only with regard to what may be ex- 
pected from America, but from Europe. ... In this 
instance the mischief done by intercepting, as it 
were, the very useful information we expected 
through you from Franklin, is, I fear, in a great de- 

is gree irremediable; but it is our business, and indeed 
our duty, to prevent such things for the future. . . . 



PROBLEM VIII 
VIII. — The Parliament Act of 191 1 



The Parliament Act of 1911 



I. THE HISTORICAL SETTING OF THE PROBLEM 

WHEN in 1649 the Commons put an end to the 
House of Lords they met little opposition. For 
eleven years the people of England got along without the 
peers, although not for all that time without a second cham- 
ber. When the Lords came back at the Restoration it was, 
as they realized, to a position of less influence. ' ' The initia- 
tive permanently transferred from one House to the other, 
the eyes of the nation permanently fixed upon the delib- 
erations of the House of Commons instead of those of 
the Lords, these were the results of the civil war and the 
movement which led up to it." Charles II. regarded the 
Upper House as " of little power to do him good or harm." 
But the wings of the Lords were by no means clipped. 
The Revolution of 1689 which gave to certain Whig fami- 
lies a long dominance in English politics rendered the in- 
fluence of the Upper House secure for more than a hun- 
dred years. Only once in the eighteenth century was its 
hand forced. That was in 1 7 1 1 , when a Tory ministry, 
unable to carry its peace proposals against a Whig ma- 
jority in the Lords, induced the Queen to call up three 
eldest sons to the Lords; 1 and to create nine new peer- 

1 1, e., to give immediate titles to three heirs apparent and so gain 
additional votes without creating additional peerages. 

22 33 1 



Source Problems in English History- 
ages, and so to give the Tories the majority they needed. 
In 17 19 the Whigs, to stop such creations, proposed that 
the Lords could never be increased by more than six be- 
yond the then membership. The measure was rejected 
by the Commons. The incident of 17 11, coupled with 
the outcome in 17 19, meant that a way had been hit upon 
to override the veto of the higher chamber; the precedent, 
although not used again for a long time, was not to be 
forgotten. When the Lords in the struggle of 1830-32 
stood out against the Reform Bill, it was only the threat of 
the creation of a sufficient number of peers that availed to 
pass it. The result of that struggle meant more than that 
a method of curbing the Upper House was hardening 
into usage. It was a warning to the Lords to go softly 
all their days. It meant that the Upper House, if it were 
to retain any influence, must be very chary in rejecting 
measures of the Commons, must never reject them, indeed, 
unless it was quite sure of popular support; it meant, 
furthermore, that the peers would no longer be able to 
force a Ministry, intrenched behind a Commons ma- 
jority, to resign. The Lords had forced a Cabinet out 
once too often. : 

What the Lords still had was the veto and the final 
right to decide when its use was demanded. This the 
Liberals and Radicals knew only too well and wished, no 
more than the Conservatives, to go through another 
struggle. A writer in the Whig Edinburgh Review for 

1 When in 1839 the Lords passed a motion for an inquiry into 
the affairs of Ireland, and when in 1850 they passed an adverse 
vote upon the Don Pacifico incident, they produced no change of 
Cabinet. The dissolution which followed in time the rejection of 
Gladstone's three resolutions on the Irish Church was not really 
an exception, for the dissolution had been determined upon by Dis- 
raeli as soon as Gladstone's resolutions passed the Commons. 

332 



The Parliament Act of 191 1 

1835 proposed that in cases of deadlock there should be 
a conference of the two Houses. James MilL writing in 
the next year in the London Review, a short-lived organ of 
radicalism, projected a plan which was almost exactly 
that to be followed seventy-five years later. "Let it be 
enacted," he wrote, "that if a bill which has been passed 
by the House of Commons and thrown out by the House 
of Lords is renewed ... in the next session of Parliament 
and passed, but again thrown out by the House of Lords, 
it shall, if passed a third time in the House of Commons, 
be law without being sent again to the Lords." And 
A. J. Roebuck, who in his Pamphlets for the People was 
hammering away at the Upper House, gave written 
notice in the Commons that he would ask for leave to 
introduce a bill proposing that the Lords should have 
merely a suspensive veto — i.e., that the Commons might, 
after a bill had once been rejected by the Lords, enact 
it into law. The proposition never reached the debating 
stage. 

Quite different from the plans of the Radicals for limit- 
ing the veto of the Lords were the suggestions for reform- 
ing the Upper House. When the Government in 1856 
proposed to add to the judicial talent in the Lords by 
giving a life-peerage to a well-known judge, it may have 
had nothing more in mind than it professed to have. 
The move was opposed on the ground that it was to re- 
vive a long-disused precedent, and that it would allow 
whatever government was in power a chance to swamp 
the Upper House with new members. In 1869 Lord 
Russell brought in a measure authorizing the Crown to 
create life-peerages, not more than twenty-eight of them, 
selected from the courts, from the fields of literature, 
science, and art, from the Commons, and from those who 
had held office under the Crown. He hoped thereby to 

333 



Source Problems in English History 

improve the authority of the House and to raise the 
character of its debates. This was to do just what the 
Radicals did not wish done. Less authority was their 
wish for the Lords, not more. And the reform seemed 
to them exceedingly diluted. "Childish tinkering" was 
what John Bright called it. As for the Lords themselves 
— and there were more of them, as it turned out — they 
feared to tamper with the question, lest they should rouse 
sleeping dogs. 

In 1883 the possibility of something better than reform, 
of curtailing the veto of the Lords, was raised by John 
Bright, whose scheme harked back, whether he knew it 
or not, to the plans of the Radicals in the thirties. In a 
speech delivered in October of that year, he proposed that 
the Upper House should be allowed but one veto, and that 
if a bill were repassed by the Commons after a rejection 
by the peers, it should become law. The Lords were, 
however, to be allowed to take up the measure a second 
time and to offer amendments. But if these amendments 
were put aside by the Commons the Lords should be 
bound to accept the bill. In the next year Lord Rose- 
bery moved in the Lords that "a select committee be 
appointed to consider the best means of promoting the 
efficiency of this House." "We represent too much one 
class," he said, quite plainly; "we see one side of the shield 
too much." " It was too late for the Senate to deliberate 
when the Gaul was in their midst ; it was too late for the 
House of Commons to discuss abstract questions when 
Cromwell was at the table. It will be too late to move 
for any select committee when the voice which calls for 
radical reform or abolition becomes loud and universal. 
. . . But what is heard now is not a demand for abolition. 
A demand for improvement," he declared, "makes itself 
heard in every public speech ... it makes itself heard in 

334 



The Parliament Act of 191 1 

every magazine ... it makes itself heard in all the news- 
papers. ... It can be no secret . . . that the more ardent 
spirits of the party to which I belong do not wish for the 
reform of the House of Lords. They wish for its aboli- 
tion." In his reply the Marquess of Salisbury indicated 
his belief that Lord Rosebery's dissatisfaction with the 
House was due to the fact that the majority in the House 
happened to be conservative, a phenomenon which the 
Marquess believed to be temporary, at all events, in its 
present degree. No one who realized the impulse toward 
democracy which followed the wide extension of the fran- 
chise could have believed that the Lords were to be any- 
thing more than the bulwark of the Conservative party, 
its ever-present help in time of trouble. Probably few 
of their number were so short-sighted as the Marquess, 
but they were satisfied with a situation which offered to 
the forces of radicalism a permanent handicap. Perhaps 
they could hold back the tide. At any rate, they voted 
down Lord Rosebery's resolution. 

In the same year they did, indeed, accept the third 
Reform Bill, although not without having first threat- 
ened to throw it out. The threat was met by Gladstone 
with another. He sent word to the Queen that he would 
not, as a result of the Lords' attitude, dissolve Parliament 
and fight out again the issue of the franchise. If he had 
to dissolve, it would be upon the question of an "organic 
change in the House of Lords." "There is, perhaps, the 
alternative of advising a large creation of peers; but to 
this there are great objections, even if the Queen were 
willing." The method of curbing the peers which had 
been practised in 17 11 and 1832 was less feasible when 
three or four hundred peers would have to be created to 
outweigh the hostile majority. 

In 1888 the question of the Lords received attention in 
335 



Source Problems in English History 

both Houses. In the Commons Mr. Labouchere struck 
at the root of the tree by moving that it was contrary to 
the true principles of representative government that any 
person should be a member of the legislature by right of 
birth. Mr. Curzon proposed to strengthen the Upper 
House, to place in it leaders of dissenting churches, im- 
portant colonials, and men distinguished in the civil, 
military, and naval services. Mr. John Morley regarded 
the Lords as a rickety parapet on the edge of a precipice 
which was more dangerous than ho parapet at all. Mr. 
Labouchere's motion was easily defeated, but the fact that 
it received the support of the bulk of the Liberal party in 
the Commons was significant. Lord Rosebery's motion 
in the Lords for a select committee to inquire into the 
Constitution of the Upper House, though less radical 
than Mr. Labouchere's motion, showed the drift of Lib- 
eral thinking, as well as Lord Rosebery's perseverance. 
The House, he urged, was becoming so large that the con- 
stitutional method of overcoming its resistance, the crea- 
tion of peers, was less possible. The Commons rested on 
six million electors, the Lords On an hereditary principle, 
which had become dominant only since the sixteenth 
century. The Lords had been since 1832 the bulwark of 
one party. "This House which strains at a Liberal ghat 
will swallow a Conservative camel." Catholic Emancipa- 
tion, the repeal of the Corn Laws, and the Franchise Bill 
of 1866 had been accepted by the Lords only because 
they came from the Conservative party. In 1 884 Lord 
Rosebery had offered no constructive scheme. In 1888 
he had a fairly definite plan. Let the Upper House be a 
representative body; let it be elected by the whole body 
of the Lords; by other groups as Well, by the county 
boards, or by the larger municipalities, or by the HoUse 
of Commons; let it have among its membership agents 

336 



The Parliament Act of 191 1 

of the colonies. As for cases of disagreement between the 
Houses, let there be a conference and a decision by joint 
vote. \ This was carrying matters too far for the Lords, who 
rejected the motion by 97 votes to 50. When he refused 
to follow Lord Rosebery, the Marquess of Salisbury had 
indicated that he was willing to support the principle of 
life-peerages. He now introduced a measure for giving 
such peerages to men of eminence. Not more than five 
were to be granted in a single year, nor were there to be 
more than fifty at a time. Along with this measure, which 
would have been deemed hopelessly radical in 1869, the 
Prime Minister brought in a bill to enable the sovereign 
to deprive any peer of his right to receive the writ of 
summons, a measure which became known as the Black 
Sheep Bill. Both proposals were withdrawn by the 
Marquess when he found that the leader of the Opposi- 
tion, Mr. Gladstone, would fight any such partial re- 
forms. 2 

Mr. Gladstone had long been brooding over the powers 
of the higher chamber. The defeat of the second Home 
Rule Bill by the Lords in 1893 hardened his heart 
against them. Upon the issue of the Upper House 
he was ready to go to the country, but when some 
of his Cabinet held back, he let the scheme go by 
the board. His hesitation was probably wiser than dar- 
ing would have been. 

Why had the Liberal party been so slow to take up and 
push a cause that deeply concerned it ? The student who 
has followed the course of events can readily give the 
answer. It had been the peculiar combination of elements 

1 In the same year Lord Dunraven introduced a plan of some- 
what similar character. 

2 In the next year Lord Carnarvon tried unsuccessfully to revive 
the Black Sheep Bill. 

337 



Source Problems in English History 

in the party which numbed the will. Eager radicals who 
wished to use the spur, and slow, steady-going Whigs who 
believed in safety first, were ill-fitted for riding together, 
not only because they liked different paces, but because, 
however little they recognized it, they really wished to 
go in opposite directions. Radicals hoped to curtail the 
Upper House, or perhaps to abolish it. They would have 
welcomed the Gilbertian fancy of Lords transformed into 
fairies. Whigs, on the other hand — and Whigs up to 
nearly the end of the century, and in some respects indeed 
up to 1906, were the bone and sinew of the Liberal party 
— wished to make over the House of Lords. Few of them, 
indeed, differed in this respect much from the old-line 
Tories. They were not alert to realize that a made-over 
House was really a more powerful one. It was this real 
division in Liberal councils that so long retarded a defi- 
nite policy. 

The years that followed 1893 were for the Liberal party 
lean ones, and schemes for curtailing the Lords were al- 
lowed to lapse. Mot until the great Liberal victory of 
1906 did the question again take the stage. By this time 
economic urgency was behind political aspiration. Social- 
democratic reform on a large scale had become more than 
the hope of Fabian idealists or statistical slum-workers. 
It was the demand of a great working class, underpaid, ill 
provided, and underfed. That class now had votes and 
was going to see to it that their rulers were not held 
back by a political wire fence from the rich fields of 
taxation possibilities which the great holdings of the 
landed and mercantile classes afforded. How they saw 
to it, how the Liberal party was at length forced to take 
up the question of the Lords, is the theme of the great 
play that begins its rapid action in 1906 and closes after 
a stormy fifth act with a clean conclusion in 191 1. The 

338 



The Parliament Act of 191 1 

party was pledged, when it came into power, to deal with 
education. The Education Bill of 1906, which was de- 
signed to render state-supported education less sectarian, 
had all the weight of non-conformist opinion behind it 
and all the massed force of the Church against it. It was 
passed by an enormous majority in the Commons, where 
non-conformist sentiment was probably stronger than it 
had been since the Long Parliament, but was thrown out 
by the peers. The Plural Voting Bill, which was to limit 
a man with several residences to one place of voting at 
a given time, met a similar end. Then it was that the 
government brought in and passed through the Com- 
mons resolutions, "merely anticipatory," that the power 
of the Upper House to alter or reject bills must be restricted 
by law, so as to make sure that "within the limits of a 
single Parliament the final decision of the Commons should 
prevail." This was in 1907. In the next year the bill for 
Old Age Pensions was accepted by the peers because the 
Conservative party did not oppose the plan. The Lords 
were, said Mr. Lloyd George, the "poodles" of Mr. Bal- 
four, the leader of the Conservatives. But the Licensing 
Bill, a mild enough temperance measure which was to 
reduce the number of public houses by one-third and 
bring about that consummation within fourteen years, 
went the way of the Education Bill and the Plural Voting 
Bill. 

The Liberal party now found itself estopped in every 
attack upon privilege. Faced with aggressive Liberal 
measures, the Lords had resumed all their old powers. 
They had taken back all the authority they had before 
1830, had taken it back because the New Liberalism was 
dangerous to institutions and interests of the conserva- 
tive classes. It was at this point that Mr. Lloyd George 
brought in the Budget of 1909. 

339 



Sourcp Problems in English History 



II. INTRODUCTION TO THE SOURCES 

The Source materials of this problem are of two kinds, 
neither of which calls for much discussion. 

i. Statutes. One statute, the Parliament Act of 191 1, 
is taken from the Law Reports, the Public General Statutes, 
igii [London, 191 1]. The other, the Finance Bill of 
1909 (which was finally passed in 19 10), is not given in 
official form because of its length, but its novel features, 
as summarized by Professor Seligman in an article in the 
Survey for Jan. 15, 19 10, are explained in a few brief 
paragraphs. 

2. Speeches. These have been recorded by trained 
and accurate reporters, or briefed, by men expert in get- 
ting the gist of a speech from complete reports. The 
extracts have been collected from three closely related 
sources. 

a. Hansard is the official report of speeches in Parlia- 
ment and is based upon stenographic notes. 

b. The London Times [weekly ed.] gives excellent sum- 
maries of public speeches in and out of Parliament. While 
the Times is a Conservative or Unionist paper, its accounts 
of speeches are entirely non-partisan and fair. 

c. The Annual Register gives summaries of speeches 
which are based upon the official accounts or taken from 
accounts in the best London dailies. 



UI. QUESTIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR STUDY 

1. What were the immediate expenses in 1909 which made 

necessary a largely increased revenue? 

2. What were the plans of the government for further ex- 

penditure in the future? 
340 



The Parliament Act of 191 1 

3. Which of the Budget proposals of 1909 looked to immediate 

returns? Which to future revenues? 

4. Which features of the Budget would be the most objection- 

able to the Lords? Why? 

5. What alternative did the Unionist (Conservative) party- 

offer to the Budget? 

6. Was Mr. Lloyd George framing a financial policy for the 

future? or was he trying to insert into a finance bill 
schemes of social legislation? or was he arranging the 
stage for a struggle with the Lords? 

7. What is meant by "tacking"? Had the government been 

guilty of tacking in the Budget of 1909? 

8. What is the constitutional significance of the Resolution 

of 1672? of the Commons' argument of 1689? of the 
course of the Paper Bill Repeal of 1860-186 1? 

9. What did Mr. Balfour mean by the "theory of a 'second 

chamber' system"? Did the action of the Lords in 
rejecting the Budget accord with such a theory? 

10. What had been the history of attempts on the part of the 

Lords, by the rejection of measures, to force an appeal 
to the people? What had been the policy of the Liberal 
party on this matter? Why did the government then 
allow a dissolution to follow the rejection of the Budget? 

11. How much did Mr. Asquith imply by his warning on Dec. 

10th? Had the government any plan in mind by this 
time? 

12. Who writes the King's Speech? What was the significance 

of the King's words? 

13. Why would Lord Rosebery's scheme for the House of Lords 

be unsatisfactory to the Liberal party? What former 
scheme did it resemble? 

14. How far had Mr. Asquith's Resolutions been forecast at 

earlier times? 

15. What further plans for the House of Lords besides those in- 

dicated in the Resolutions did the government have in 
mind? Have those plans been carried out? 

16. What was the significance of Lord Lansdowne's scheme? 

341 



Source Problems in English History 

How was it that the leader of the Conservative party 
in the House of Lords was willing to offer so much? 

17. What became of the Budget of 1909? What constitutional 

theory lay behind the fact that the Lords passed the 
Budget so quickly when it was presented to them 
again? 

18. Why was a second election in less than a year's time neces- 

sary? 

19. When Mr. Asquith went into the election of December, 

1 9 10, what security did he have that the King would 
exercise bis prerogative to pass the Parliament Bill? 

20. Why did the King have no alternative but to accept the 

advice of his Ministers? 



21. What was the change made in the duration of Parliament? 

22. How is the Parliament Act likely to affect the introduction 

of legislation when the Liberal party is in power? 

23. How will the "speeding up" of legislation, which will 

naturally occur, affect the influence of the Cabinet? 

24. What will be the effect of the Parliament Act on the im- 

provement and revision of bills? 

25. What had been Edward VII. 's attitude toward the Parlia- 

mentary struggle (see Edward VII. in Dictionary of 
National Biography)? 



IV. The Sources 

[The Budget of 1909, in general as outlined below, was 
introduced on April 29th.] 

1. Edwin R. Seligman, The English Budget Proposals , 
in the Survey for Jan. 15, 19 10. 
s England is henceforth to enforce both the dif- 
ferentiation and the graduation of the income tax. 
In other words, not only is a distinction made be- 
tween earned and unearned incomes, whereby the 
unearned incomes are taxed at a higher rate than the 

10 earned incomes; but the beginnings of progressive 
taxation are introduced by the introduction of the 
so-called super-tax. That is to say, whenever the 
total income exceeds £5,000, an additional duty 
of 6d. in the pound (over and above the normal rate 

15 of is. 2d.) is charged for every pound of the amount 
by which the total income exceeds £3,000. More- 
over, on the smaller incomes, in addition to the abate- 
ments that are already in force, it is provided that 
a reduction of £10 in the tax shall be made for each 

*o child. . . . 

According to the new scheme the estate duty 
343 



Source Problems in English History 

which begins at the rate of one per cent, when the 
estate amounts to from £100 to £500, now runs up, 
in a very sharp graduation, until it reaches ten per 
cent, on estates between £150,000 to £200,000, and 
s fifteen per cent, on estates over £1,000,000. . . . 
We also have the legacy and succession duties, 
which apply to separate shares of the estates. . . . 
These, which are graduated according to relation- 
ship, run up to ten per cent. The result is that 
10 the English inheritance tax under its present form 
is graduated up to the point of twenty-five per 
cent. . . . 

The Budget provides for what is known as an 
undeveloped land duty; that is, a tax of one half- 
is penny on the pound on the site value ] of land 

The tax should not be applied to any land where 
the site value should not exceed £50 per acre. 
This at once exempts most of the agricultural land. 
It is also provided that in the case of agricultural 
20 land where the site value exceeds £50 per acre, the 
tax shall be chargeable only on the amount by which 
the site value of the land exceeds its value for agri- 
cultural purposes. Other exemptions also are made 
for parks, gardens, open spaces, and in general for 
as any land where the commissioners think that it is 
desirable for social purposes to keep the land free 
from buildings. In order to make this tax possible, 

1 1, e., the value of the land apart from buildings, machinery, 
appurtenances, etc. 

344 



The Parliament Act of 191 1 

provision is made for a survey and valuation of all 
the lands in the United Kingdom. . . . 

The increment value duty is, in many respects, 
the mOst interesting part of the entire scheme. It 
s provides that when any land is sold, or leased for a 
period of more than fourteen years, and the value 
of the site turns out to be greater than its value at 
the last transfer or at the beginning of the lease, a 
tax of twenty per cent, shall be imposed on the in- 

10 crease of land value over and above an increase of 
ten per cent, in the value. Agricultural land is 
exempt. . . . 

As a supplement to this increment value duty there 
is ... a so-called reversion duty at the rate of ten 

is per cent, on the capital value. This reversion duty 
is payable on the termination of any lease of land, 
and is assessed on the value of the benefit * accruing 
to the lessor by reason of the termination of the 
lease. It is not charged on agricultural lands nor 

20 on leases less than twenty-one years. . . . 

The Budget also provides for a so-called mineral 
rights duty, which is a tax of five per cent, on the 
rental value of all rights to Work minerals. . . . 
2. Annual Register, 1909, p. 181. [Mr. Lloyd George 

2 5 at Limehouse, July 30th.] 

The city, he said, had demanded further expendi- 
ture on the navy ; but while the workmen in Derby- 

1 The benefit is the sum by which the total value exceeds the 
value at the time of the original grant. 

345 



Source Problems in English History 

shire, Cleveland, and Dumfries had shown them- 
selves willing to pay, there was a howl from Bel- 
gravia. . . . The Budget was raising money to pro- 
vide against poverty, unemployment, and sickness; 
s for widows and orphans, and for the development 
of our own land. The land taxes, especially, were 
being attacked with ferocity. But land near the 
London docks, formerly rented at £2 or £3 an acre, 
had sold at £6,000 or £8,000 an acre. A piece of 
10 land at Golders Green, near Hampstead, had risen 
in value from £160 to £2,100 through the making of 
the tube railway. The Duke of Northumberland 
had asked £900 an acre for a piece of land wanted 
for a school and rated at 305. an acre. ... As one of 
is the children of the people, he had made up his mind 
in framing the Budget that no cupboard should be 
bared, no lot should be harder to bear. 
3. Annual Register, 1909, p. 209. [Mr. Asquith at 
Birmingham, Sept. 17th.] 
20 As to the Tariff Reform alternative, Mr. Asquith 
challenged Mr. Balfour to give a clear answer in 
his coming speech. What would the peers do? 
Mutilation or rejection would be the most for- 
midable revolution since the days of the Long Par- 
as liament. Every bill granting taxes stated in its 
preamble that the taxes were granted by the Com- 
mons. Mention of the Lords had been expressly 
omitted in 1628 on the report of a committee in- 
cluding Coke and Selden, and the principle had been 

346 



The Parliament Act of 191 1 

confirmed by the celebrated resolutions of 1672 and 
1678. * It had been affirmed, as he showed by quo- 
tations, by the elder Pitt, the Duke of Wellington, 
Lord Rosebery himself, Lord Salisbury, and Mr. 

5 Balfour. ... In matters of finance the Lords were 
impotent, the Commons supreme. Amendment and 
rejection by the Lords were equally out of the ques- 
tion. "That way revolution lies " ; it would involve 
issues far wider and deeper than the right of the 

10 Lords to meddle with finance. The Liberal party 
were not only ready, but anxious and eager to take 
up the challenge. 
4. Annual Register, 1909, p. 231. 

The Chancellor of the Exchequer [Mr. Lloyd 

is George] described ' ' the issues of the Budget ' ' in the 
Nation [England] of October 30. He rejoiced that 
one of the greatest struggles in Great Britain for 
upwards of 250 years should arise over a measure 
decisively raising some of the most important issues 

20 between Liberalism and Toryism — Free Trade or 
Protection; the taxation of necessaries or of super- 
fluities and monopolies; the avoidance, at national 
cost, of unmerited poverty and distress; the respon- 

1 The Commons Resolution of 1678 was: "That all Aids and Sup- 
as plies, and Aids to his Majesty in Parliament, are the sole Gift of the 
Commons, and all Bills for the Granting of any such Aids and 
Supplies ought to begin with the Commons. And that it is the un- 
doubted and sole right of the Commons to direct, limit, and appoint 
in such Bill the Ends, Purposes, Considerations, Conditions, Limita- 
30 tions, and Qualifications of such Grants, which ought not to be 
changed or altered by the House of Lords." 

2 3 347 



Source Problems in English History 

sibility of the State for the organized development 
of the neglected wealth of the land. The Budget, 
he regarded as part of a comprehensive scheme of 
fiscal and social reform, including unemployment and 
5 sickness insurance and rural development. . . . He 
aimed at raising an increasing revenue to be ear- 
marked for the Government schemes of social reform 
and national development. . . . The Budget was only 
a beginning of needed land reform. 

io [On Nov. 8, 1909, The Finance Bill or Budget, having 
been passed in the Commons, was introduced in the 
Lords.] 

5. Annual Register, 1909, p. 244. 
On November 16th, the Marquess of Lansdowne 

is gave notice that on the second reading of the Finance 
Bill he would move "That this House is not justi- 
fied in giving its assent to the Bill, until it has been 
submitted to the judgment of the country." 
pp. 247, 248. 

20 The Marquess of Lansdowne, moving his resolu- 
tion, claimed that the House's right to reject a 
Money Bill was expressly recorded in the Commons' 
argument of 1689 j 1 but it required reassertion, be- 
cause the Commons' privileges were now interpreted 

25 strictly, and "tacking" had increased, culminating 

1 Here Lord Lansdowne quoted: "And the Lords are not to alter 

such gift, grant, limitation, appointment, or modification by the 

Commons in any part or circumstance, or otherwise interpose in 

such Bill than to pass or reject the same for the whole, without any 

30 alteration or amendment." 

348 



The Parliament Act of 191 1 

in the Finance Bill of 1894. l Thus the Lords were 
thrown back on rejection, a right asserted — as he 
showed by quotations — by Earl Spencer and the Mar- 
quess of Ripon. The Scottish Valuation Bill and the 

s Licensing Bill had been rejected, and might be re- 
jected when grafted on a Finance Bill. Why should 
not a Home Rule Bill be similarly grafted? The 
question was not whether they could, but whether 
they ought to reject the Bill. This was admittedly 

10 not an ordinary budget, and so it ought to be re- 
ferred to the electors. 

6. Hansard, 1909, Lords, IV, 752-3. [Lord Lore- 
burn (Lord Chancellor), Nov. 22, 1909.] 
In the year i860, when this House threw out the 

is Bill for the repeal of the Paper Duty, the House of 
Commons passed a Resolution asserting that they 
had themselves the power of keeping their own rights 
inviolate, and the next year they put all the money 
provisions . . . into one Bill. It was passed by your 

20 Lordships. It has been passed ever since by your 
Lordships. ... It is very open to question . . . whether 
any pure money Bill, small or large, had ever been 
thrown out by this House. . . . But I will assume, 

1 Lord Lansdowne's exact words on this point were: "But an- 
as other practice has grown up ... I mean the practice of grouping to- 
gether under one Bill a large number of measures dealing with dif- 
ferent taxes. That is a recent practice and it never assumed its 
present proportions until the year 1894. . . . And this change was 
made with the obvious intention of embarrassing your Lordships in 
30 the exercise of your undoubted rights." 

349 



Source Problems in English History 

although I do not wholly assent, that it has been 
done on various occasions in the course of these 
small and unimportant Bills; but it has never been 
done — never — in regard to the finance of the year. 

s [On Nov. 30, 1909, the Finance Bill was rejected by 
the House of Lords by a vote of 350 to 75.] 

7. The Times, Dec. 10, 1909, p. 790. [Mr. Asquith in 
the Commons, Dec. 2d.] 
When Mr. Asquith rose to move the resolution 

10 of which he had given notice, "That the action of 
the House of Lords in refusing to pass into law the 
financial provision made by this House for the ser- 
vice of the year is a breach of the Constitution and 
a usurpation of the rights of the Commons," he was 

is again loudly cheered. ... It was by insistence on the 
distinction between the genius and spirit of our Con- 
stitution and the bare, barren letter of the law that 
the liberties of England had been made and saved. 
. . . Ever since 1628, when the name of the House oil 

20 Lords was omitted from the preamble of a Supply 
Bill, the Commons had constantly asserted with 
great emphasis their exclusive right to determine 
what the taxation of the country should be. . . . It 
had been put forward as a justification for the Lords' 

25 action that the Bill in question was not really a Fi- 
nance Bill. This contention Mr. Asquith brushed 
aside as the absurd contention of a bankrupt contro- 
versialist, there not being, he asserted, one single 

350 



The Parliament Act of 191 1 

clause in the measure not concerned with the pri- 
mary purpose of raising revenue. The affirmation 
that the Lords had not rejected the Bill, but merely 
referred it to the people, he examined critically, 

5 saying that if this precedent of a reference to the 
people were once adopted no Liberal government 
would be safe. The Lords would have the power to 
compel the Executive of the day to take one of 
three courses — to submit a new Budget to the other 

10 House, or to send up the old one again without mak- 
ing in it adequate provision for the needs of the 
state, or to advise the Crown to dissolve Parlia- 
ment. . . . The real question . . . was whether, when 
the Liberal party was in power the House of Lords 

is should be omnipotent. "We are living now [said 
he] under a system of false balances and loaded 
dice." . . . "We believe that the first principles of 
representative government are at stake. ..." 
8. The Times, Dec. 10, 1909, p. 790. [Mr. Balfour 

20 in the Commons, Dec. 2d.] 

In his speech the Prime Minister had ignored vital 
points; for example, that the Commons had ad- 
mitted in terms that the Lords had a right to reject 
a Finance Bill, though not to initiate or amend one. 

2s He went on to declare — and the declaration was re- 
ceived by the Ministerialists with mocking laughter 
— that manifestly such action as the Lords had taken 
must be of rare occurrence. ... In support of the 
contention that the Lords could reject a Finance 

35i 



Source Problems in English History 

Bill, he referred to opinions expressed by Mr. Glad- 
stone, Lord Spencer, Lord Ripon, and the present 
Lord Chancellor. . . . The central point ... in the 
present controversy was this — Had the Lords, in in- 

s sisting that the constituencies must be consulted 
on the Finance Bill, exceeded the functions which a 
Second Chamber ought to have. ... If the people 
should want the Budget they would not suffer, for 
they could return a Liberal Government and the 

io Finance Bill could be reintroduced. The course 
taken by the Lords accorded with the whole theory 
of the Second Chamber system. . . . 

9. Annual Register, 1909, p. 258. [Mr. Lloyd 

George, Dec. 3d, at the National Liberal Club.] 
is Dismissing the Bill [Finance Bill] after a few sen- 
tences, he said that its rejection had initiated one 
of the greatest and most promising struggles of 
modern times. The issue would be the supremacy 
of the House of Lords. Its insolence had grown by 
20 immunity. It was purely a branch of the Tory 
organization. He would not remain a member of 
a Liberal Cabinet for an hour unless full powers 
were accorded it enabling it to pass into law a 
measure securing that the House of Commons could 
as carry bills in a single Parliament either with or with- 
out the sanction of the House of Lords. 

10. The Times, Dec. 17, 1909, pp. 806-7. [Mr. As- 

quith at Albert Hall, Dec. 10th.] 
. . . The House of Lords had not, indeed, raised, but 
352 



The Parliament Act of 191 1 

has hurried on for prompt decision a larger issue 
still [he has been speaking of Tariff Reform]. I tell 
you quite plainly, and I tell my fellow-countrymen 
outside that neither I nor any other Liberal Minister 

5 supported by a majority of the House of Commons 
are going to submit again to the rebuffs and the 
humiliations of the last four years. We shall not 
assume office, and we shall not hold office, unless we 
can secure the safeguards which experience shows 

10 to be necessary for the legislative utility and honor 
of the party of progress. 

[In the week of Dec. 5-12 it was officially announced 
that Parliament would be dissolved Jan. 8, 19 10, and that 
writs would be issued on that day for a new Parliament.] 

is 11. The Times, Dec. 17, 1909, p. 806. [Mr. Balfour's 

Election Address, Dec. 10th.] 

The claim of the Government, stripped of the bad 

history and bad law with which it is obscured, is 

simplicity itself. They hold that the House of 

20 Commons, no matter how elected or when elected, 

no matter what its relation to public opinion at the 

moment, is to be the uncontrolled master of the 

fortunes of every class in the community; and that 

to the community itself no appeal, even on the ex- 

25 tremest cases, is to be allowed to lie. . . . 

The questions raised are three — (1) May there 
not be occasions on which an appeal to the people 
on matters of finance is necessary? (2) Is not this 

353 



Source Problems in English History 

one of them? And (3) if these questions be answered 
in the affirmative, does any other machinery exist 
for securing the appeal except that which has been 
set in motion by the House of Lords? . . . 

s The truth of the matter is that the present attack 
on the House of Lords is but the culmination of a 
long-drawn conspiracy. The Government came into 
office, not to work the Constitution of the country, 
but to destroy it. . . . 

10 The Budget, now waiting the sentence of the peo- 
ple, seems designed of set purpose to make every 
man who has invested his money in this country 
consider how he can remove it, and every man 
who is hesitating where to invest it determine to 

is invest it abroad. The super-tax frightens some, the 
new death-duties cripple others, and, worse than all, 
the origin of the proposals and the principles on which 
they have been defended show clearly how thin is 
the dividing line which separates the policy of the 

20 Government from that of the avowed socialists. 

[The result of the election was to put the Liberal party, 
with its allies, the Labor and the Nationalist parties, back 
into power with a total majority of 125 as against a ma- 
jority before dissolution of about 334.] 

as 12. Annual Register, 19 10, p. 20. [Excerpt from the 
King's speech, Feb. 21st, on opening Parlia- 
ment.] 
My Lords and Gentlemen, — Recent experience has 
disclosed serious difficulties, due to recurring differ- 

354 



The Parliament Act of 191 1 

ences of strong opinion between the two branches 
of the legislature. Proposals will be laid before 
you, with all convenient speed, to define the relations 
between the Houses of Parliament, so as to secure 
s the undivided authority of the House of Commons 
over finance, and its predominance in legislation. 

[With the opening of Parliament the Finance Bill of 
1909 was reintroduced; it passed the Commons again 
on April 27, 19 10, and went through the House of Lords 
10 next day.] 

13. Annual Register, 1910, pp. 22, 23. [Debate on 

the Address, Feb. 21st.] 
Mr. Asquith. . . . There was an overwhelming ma- 
jority in the House absolutely pledged to deal with 

is the veto, and the Government would ask the House 
of Commons to devote its opening session to this 
topic alone. To save time they proposed to proceed 
in the first instance by resolutions, which were to be 
embodied in a bill to be passed during the session, 

20 and on these he hoped that the House might pro- 
nounce before its spring recess. The Budget had 
to be reaffirmed. . . . The next step would be to ob- 
tain authority to renew, as they fell due, the Treasury 
Bills issued in consequence of the rejection of the 

»s Budget. . . . 

14. London Times, March 18, 1910, p. 189. [Lord 

Rosebery's Resolutions in the House of Lords 
Committee, March 14th.] 
1. That a strong and efficient Second Chamber is 
355 



Source Problems in English History 

not merely an integral part of the British Constitu- 
tion, but is necessary to the well-being of the state 
and to the balance of Parliament. 

2. That such a Chamber can best be obtained by 
s the reform and reconstitution of the House of Lords. 

3. That a necessary preliminary of such reform 
and reconstitution is the acceptance of the principle 
that the possession of a peerage should no longer of 
itself give the right to sit and vote in the House of 

10 Lords. 

15. The Times, March 25, 19 10, p. 215. [Mr. As- 
quith's Resolutions in Committee (introduced 
March 29th).] 
1. That it is expedient that the House of Lords 

is be disabled by law from rejecting or amending a 
Money Bill, but that any such limitation by law shall 
not be taken to diminish or qualify the existing rights 
and privileges of the House of Commons. [Definition 
of a Money Bill follows.] 

20 2. That it is expedient that the powers of the 
House of Lords, as respects bills other than Money 
Bills, be restricted by law, so that any such bill 
which has passed the House of Commons in three 
successive sessions and, having been sent up to the 

25 House of Lords at least one month before the end 
of the session, has been rejected by that House in 
each of these sessions, shall become law without the 
consent of the House of Lords, on the Royal Assent 
being declared. Provided that at least two years 

356 



The Parliament Act of 191 1 

shall have elapsed between the date of the first in- 
troduction of the Bill in the House of Commons and 
the date on which it passes the House of Commons 
for the third time. For the purpose of this resolu- 

5 tion a bill shall be treated as rejected by the House 
of Lords if it has not been passed by the House of 
Lords either without amendment or with such 
amendments only as may be agreed upon by both 
Houses. 

10 3. That it is expedient to limit the duration of 
Parliament to five years. 

16. Annual Register, 1910, p. 68. [Mr. Asquith, 

March 29th.] 
The Commons must predominate; but a Second 

is Chamber might usefully discharge the functions of 
consultation, of revision, and, subject to proper 
safeguards, of delay. Such a Chamber should be 
relatively small; its basis should be democratic, not 
hereditary; it must not be "governed by partisan- 

20 ship tempered by panic," and should be representa- 
tive of and dependent on the will of the nation. 
The Government resolutions therefore were not put 
forward as a final or adequate solution. 

17. Annual Register, 19 10, p. 77. [Mr. Lloyd 
as George, April 4th.] 

The real issue was the existence of a permanent 
anti-Liberal majority in the House of Lords. He 
dealt at length with its action since 1900; it ac- 
cepted contentious Unionist bills for which there 

357 



Source Problems in English History 

was no mandate, but rejected in the Parliament of 
1906 five contentious measures out of six. . . . He 
ridiculed the fears entertained of socialism. If the 
people really wished for revolutionary measures, of 
5 what use would be the Lords' veto? Of what use 
was the King's veto in the French Revolution? The 
peers were just ordinary party men, and could not 
be an impartial jury. . . . 

[In the midst of a complex political situation when 
10 it looked as if the King would be called upon by the 
government to create enough peers to put through the 
Parliament Bill, King Edward VII. died suddenly on 
May 6th. On June 16th it was decided that there would 
be a conference of eight men, four from each party, with a 
is view to a compromise. That conference broke up on 
Nov. 10th without result.] 

18. Annual Register, 1910, p. 241. Nov. 21st. 

The Marquess of Lansdowne read out his resolu- 
tions. They embodied a scheme for settling dif- 

30 ferences between the Commons and the "reduced 
and reconstituted" House of Lords. A difference 
as to bills other than Money Bills in two successive 
sessions, and within an interval of not less than one 
year, was to be settled in a joint sitting composed of 

25 members of both Houses, provided that, if it related 
to a matter of great gravity and had not been ade- 
quately submitted to the judgment of the people, 
it should be submitted to the electors for decision 
by referendum. As to Money Bills, the Lords 

358 



The Parliament Act of 191 1 

would forego their constitutional right to reject or 
amend Money Bills, purely financial in character, 
provided that effectual provision was made against 
tacking. . . . 

s 19. Annual Register, 1910, p. 237. [Mr. Asquith 
at the National Liberal Club, Nov. 19th.] 
He commented on the change in the Unionist at- 
titude, quoting Dr. Johnson's saying regarding Dr. 
Dodd, "When a man knows he is going to be hanged 

10 in a fortnight it concentrates his mind wonder- 
fully." In one sitting the House of Lords had been 
transformed — in principle — into a brand-new modern 
Senate . . . but meantime an instrument was wanted 
to remove deadlocks, and give the Liberals an equal 

is chance in legislation. 

[On Nov. 1 8th Mr. Asquith announced in the Commons 
that the Government had advised the King to bring that 
Parliament to an end. Parliament was dissolved on 
Nov. 28th, and the election was ended before Christmas. 
20 The result of the election was almost exactly the same 
as in January.] 

20. Annual Register, 191 1, pp. 27, 28. 

The motion for leave to introduce the Parliament 
Bill was made by the Prime Minister on Tuesday, 
25 February 21. . . . Mr. Asquith . . . said that the situa- 
tion was in some respects almost without precedent 
in the parliamentary annals of the country. The 
Bill was identical in every respect with that of 19 10, 
which the electorate had since approved by a ma- 

359 



Source Problems in English History 

jority of 1 20 in the United Kingdom and 60 in Great 
Britain. He dwelt on the divergence, under an un- 
written constitution between legal powers and con- 
stitutional practice, pointing out that the crisis was 

5 occasioned by the sudden assertion of a disused 
legal right. 

21. The Times, May 12, 1911, p. 371. [House of 
Lords Reconstitution Bill, introduced by Lord 
Lansdowne in the Lords, May 8th. Memo- 

10 randum of.] 

One hundred Lords of Parliament elected by the 
whole body of hereditary peers from among those 
hereditary peers who possess any of the qualifica- 
tions set out in the schedule. 

is One hundred and twenty Lords of Parliament 
elected for electoral districts to be formed by com- 
missioners throughout the United Kingdom — the 
election to be by electoral colleges composed of the 
members of the House of Commons for constituencies 

20 within each Electoral District. 

One hundred Lords of Parliament appointed by 
His Majesty, on the advice of the Ministry of the 
day, in proportion to the strength of parties in the 
House of Commons. 

as Seven Spiritual Lords of Parliament consisting of 
the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of 
York, and five Bishops elected by the Archbishops 
and Bishops of England and Wales. 

Sixteen peers who have held high judicial office, 
360 



The Parliament Act of 191 1 

The term of office of a Lord of Parliament would 
be 12 years, one fourth as nearly as may be of each 
category retiring every third year. . . . 

A Peer unless a Lord of Parliament would be 
s eligible for election to the House of Commons. 

[On July 20, 191 1, the Lords passed the Parliament Bill 
in a form so much amended that it was clear that the 
government would not accept it.] 

22. Annual Register, 191 1, p. 175. [Letter of Mr. 
Asquith.] 

10 Downing St., July 20. 
Dear Mr. Balfour, — I think it is courteous and 
right, before any public decisions are announced, to 
let you know how we regard the political situation, 
is When the Parliament Bill in the form which it has 
now assumed returns to the House of Commons we 
shall be compelled to ask that House to disagree 
with the Lords' amendments. 

In the circumstances, should the necessity arise, 

30 the Government will advise the King to exercise his 

prerogative to secure the passing into law of the 

Bill in substantially the same form in which it left 

the House of Commons, and his Majesty has been 

pleased to signify that he will consider it his duty to 

35 accept and act on that advice. — 

Yours sincerely, 

H. H. Asquith. 

[The Commons, of course, rejected the Lords' amend- 

361 



Source Problems in English History 

ments and sent the Bill back to the Lords, where it was 
accepted on Aug. ioth by a vote of 131 to 114.] 

23. Annual Register, 191 1, p. 190. [Mr. Asquith, 
Aug. 7th.] 

5 It was at the King's strong desire and with his 
Majesty's express leave that he was able to disclose 
communications hitherto treated as confidential. 
After referring to his declaration of April 14, 19 10 — 
which was communicated to King Edward VII. » 

10 then abroad, — and saying that Ministers would have 
been false to their pledges had they gone into a 
dissolution, after the new reign and the break-down 
of the Conference, without some definite under- 
standing, Mr. Asquith said that the advice to the 

is King to dissolve was accompanied on November 15, 
1 910, with a statement which he read out as follows: 

His Majesty's Ministers cannot take the responsibility 
of advising a dissolution unless they may understand 
that in the event of the policy of the Government being 

20 approved by an adequate majority in the new House of 
Commons his Majesty will be ready to exercise his con- 
stitutional powers, which may involve the prerogative of 
creating peers, if needed, to secure that effect shall be 
given to the decision of the country. His Majesty's 

25 Ministers are fully alive to the importance of keeping 
the name of the King out of the sphere of party and elec- 
toral controversy. They take upon themselves, as is 
their duty, the entire and exclusive responsibility for the 
policy which they would place before the electorate. His 

30 Majesty will doubtless agree that it would be inadvisable 

362 



The Parliament Act of 191 1 

in the interests of the State that any communication of 
the intentions of the Crown should be made public unless 
and until the actual occasion should arise. 

His Majesty, after discussing the matter in all 
s its bearings, felt he had no alternative but to accept 
the advice of the Government. . . . The advice [Mr. 
Asquith continued] was constitutional; the circum- 
stances were unique, and far stronger than in 1832. 
24. Law Reports, the Public General Statutes, 191 1. 
'o p. 38. Statutes, 1 and 2, Geo. V. Ch. XIII. 

Whereas it is expedient that provision should be 
made for regulating the relations between the two 
Houses of Parliament: 
And whereas it is intended to substitute for the 
5 House of Lords as it at present exists a Second 
Chamber constituted on a popular instead of hered- 
itary basis, but such substitution cannot be im- 
mediately brought into operation: 

And whereas provision will require hereafter to 
'o be made by Parliament in a measure effecting such 
substitution for limiting and defining the powers of 
the new Second Chamber, but it is expedient to 
make such provision as in this act appears for re- 
stricting the existing powers of the House of Lords : 
5 Be it therefore enacted ... as follows : 

1. — (1) If a Money Bill, having been passed by the 
House of Commons, and sent up to the House of 
Lords at least one month before the end of the ses- 
sion, is not passed by the House of Lords without 
24 363 



Source Problems in English History 

amendment within one month after it is so sent up 
to that House, the Bill shall, unless the House of 
Commons direct to the contrary, be presented to 
his Majesty and become an Act of Parliament on 

s the Royal Assent being signified, notwithstanding 
that the House of Lords have not consented to the 
Bill. 

(3) There shall be endorsed on every Money Bill 
when it is sent up to the House of Lords and when it 

10 is presented to his Majesty for assent the certifi- 
cate of the Speaker of the House of Commons signed 
by him that it is a Money Bill. . . . 

2. — (1) If any Public Bill (other than a Money Bill 
or a Bill containing any provision to extend the 

is maximum duration of Parliament beyond five years) 
is passed by the House of Commons in three suc- 
cessive sessions (whether of the same Parliament or 
not), and, having been sent up to the House of Lords 
at least one month before the end of the session, is 

20 rejected by the House of Lords in each of those 
sessions, that Bill shall, on its rejection for the third 
time by the House of Lords, unless the House of 
Commons direct to the contrary, be presented to 
his Majesty and become an Act of Parliament on 

as the Royal Assent being signified thereto, notwith- 
standing that the House of Lords have not con- 
sented to the Bill : Provided that this provision shall 
not take effect unless two years have elapsed between 
the date of the second reading in the first of those 

364 



The Parliament Act of 191 1 

sessions of the Bill in the House of Commons and 
the date on which it passes the House of Commons 
in the third of those sessions. 

(3) A Bill shall be deemed- to be rejected by the 
s House of Lords if it is not passed by the House of 

Lords either without amendment or with such 
amendments only as may be agreed to by both 
Houses. 

(4) A Bill shall be deemed to be the same Bill as 
10 a former Bill sent up to the House of Lords in the 

preceding session if, when it is sent up to the House 
of Lords, it is identical with the former Bill or con- 
tains only such alterations as are certified by the 
Speaker of the House of Commons to be necessary 

is owing to the time which has elapsed since the date 
of the former Bill, or to represent any amendments 
which have been made by the House of Lords in the 
former Bill in the preceding session, and any amend- 
ments which are certified by the Speaker to have 

20 been made by the House of Lords in the third ses- 
sion and agreed to by the House of Commons shall 
be inserted in the Bill as presented for Royal Assent 
in pursuance of this section: 

Provided that the House of Commons may, if 

25 they think fit, on the passage of such a Bill through 
the House in the second or third session suggest any 
further amendments without inserting the amend- 
ments in the Bill, and any such suggested amend- 
ments shall be considered by the House of Lords, 

365 



Source Problems in English History 

and, if agreed to by that House, shall be treated as 
amendments made by the House of Lords and agreed 
to by the House of Commons; but the exercise of 
this power by the House of Commons shall not 
affect the operation of this section in the event of 
the Bill being rejected by the House of Lords. 

7. Five years shall be substituted for seven years 
as the time fixed for the maximum duration of Par- 
liament under the Septennial Act, 1715. 



APPENDIX 



CHARTER OF LIBERTIES OF HENRY I. IIOO 

(Latin text in Stubbs, Select Charters, ninth edition, pp. 
117-ug. Translation by the editor.) 
Henry, king of the English, to Bishop Samson and Urso 
de Abetot and all his barons and faithful, both French and 
English, of Worcestershire, 1 greeting. 

1. Know that by the mercy of God and the common 
counsel of the barons of the whole kingdom of England 
I have been crowned king of said kingdom; and because 
the kingdom had been oppressed by unjust exactions, I, 
through fear of God and the love which I have toward 
you all, in the first place make the holy church of God 
free, so that I will neither sell nor put to farm, nor on 
the death of archbishop or bishop or abbot will I take 
anything from the church's demesne or from its men 
until the successor shall enter it. And I take away all 
the bad customs by which the kingdom of England was 
unjustly oppressed; which bad customs I here set down 
in part: 

2. If any of my barons, earls, or others who hold of 
me shall have died, his heir shall not buy back his land 

Copies were sent to all the shires. 
367 



Source Problems in English History 

as he used to do in the time of my brother, but he shall 
relieve it by a just and lawful relief. Likewise also the 
men of my barons shall relieve their lands from their 
lords by a just and lawful relief. 

3. And if any of my barons or other men should wish 
to give his daughter, sister, niece, or kinswoman in mar- 
riage, let him speak with me about it; but I will neither 
take anything from him for this permission nor prevent 
his giving her unless he should be minded to join her to 
my enemy. And if, upon the death of a baron or other 
of my men, a daughter is left as heir, I will give her with 
her land by the advice of my barons. And if, on the 
death of her husband, the wife is left and without chil- 
dren, she shall have her dowry and right of marriage, and 
I will not give her to a husband unless according to her 
will. 

4. But if a wife be left with children, she shall indeed 
have her dowry and right of marriage so long as she shall 
keep her body lawfully, and I will not give her unless 
according to her will. And the guardian of the land and 
children shall be either the wife or another of the relatives 
who more justly ought to be. And I command that my 
barons restrain themselves similarly in dealing with the 
sons and daughters or wives of their men. 

5. The common seigniorage, which has been taken 
through the cities and counties, but which was not taken 
in the time of King Edward, I absolutely forbid hence- 
forth. If any one, whether a moneyer or other, be taken 
with false money, let due justice be done for it. 

6. I remit all pleas and all debts which were owing to 
my brother, except my lawful fixed revenues and except 
those amounts which had been agreed upon for the in- 
heritances of others or for things which more justly con- 
cerned others. And if any one had pledged anything 

368 



Appendix 

for his own inheritance, I remit it; also all reliefs which 
had been agreed upon for just inheritances. 

7. And if any of my barons or men shall grow feeble, 
as he shall give or arrange to give his money, I grant that 
it be so given. But if, prevented by arms or sickness, he 
shall not have given or arranged to give his money, his 
wife, children, relatives, or lawful men shall distribute it 
for the good of his soul as shall seem best to them. 

8. If any of my barons or men commit a crime, he 
shall not bind himself to a payment at the king's mercy 
as he has been doing in the time of my father or my 
brother; but he shall make amends according to the 
extent of the crime as he would have done before the 
time of my father in the time of my other predecessors. 
But if he be convicted of treachery or heinous crime, he 
shall make amends as is just. 

9. I forgive all murders committed before the day I 
was crowned king; and those which shall be committed 
in the future shall be justly compensated according to 
the law of King Edward. 

10. By the common consent of my barons I have kept 
in my hands the forests as my father had them. 

11. To those knights who render military service for 
their lands I grant of my own gift that the lands of their 
demesne ploughs be free from all payments and all labor, 
so that, having been released from so great a burden, they 
may equip themselves well with horses and arms and be 
fully prepared for my service and the defense of my 
kingdom. 

12. I impose a strict peace upon my whole kingdom 
and command that it be maintained henceforth. 

13. I restore to you the law of King Edward with 
those amendments introduced into it by my father with 
the advice of his barons. 

369 



Source Problems in English History 

14. If any one, since the death of King William my 
brother, has taken anything belonging to me or to any 
one else, the whole is to be quickly restored without fine; 
but if any one keep anything of it, he upon whom it shall 
be found shall pay me a heavy fine. 

Witnesses Maurice bishop of London, and William 
bishop elect of Winchester, and Gerard bishop of Here- 
ford, and earl Henry, and earl Simon, and Walter Giffard, 
and Robert de Montfort, and Roger Bigot, and Eudo the 
steward, and Robert son of Hamo, and Robert Malet. 
At London when I was crowned. Farewell. 



II 

CONSTITUTIONS OF CLARENDON. 1164 

(Latin text in Stubbs, Select Charters, ninth edition, pp. 
163-167. Translation by the editor.) 
From the year of our Lord's incarnation 1164, the 
fourth year of the papacy of Alexander, the tenth of the 
most illustrious Henry, king of the English, in the pres- 
ence of the same king, was made this remembrance or 
recognition of a certain part of the customs, liberties, 
and dignities of his predecessors, that is to say of King 
Henry his grandfather and others, which ought to be 
observed and held in the kingdom. And because of dis- 
sensions and discords which had arisen between the clergy 
and the lord king's justices and the barons of the king- 
dom concerning the customs and dignities, this recogni- 
tion has been made before the archbishops and bishops 
and clergy, and the earls and barons and great men of 
the kingdom. And these same customs declared by the 

37o 



Appendix 

archbishops, bishops, earls, and barons, and by the nobler 
and older men of the kingdom, Thomas archbishop of 
Canterbury and Roger archbishop of York and Gilbert 
bishop of London and Henry bishop of Winchester and 
Nigel bishop of Ely and William bishop of Norwich and 
Robert bishop of Lincoln and Hilary bishop of Chichester 
and Jocelin bishop of Salisbury and Richard bishop of 
Chester and Bartholomew bishop of Exeter and Robert 
bishop of Hereford and David bishop of St. David's and 
Roger elect of Worcester conceded and on the word of 
truth firmly promised by word of mouth should be held 
and observed for the lord king and his heirs in good faith 
and without subtlety, these being present: Robert earl 
of Leicester, Reginald earl of Cornwall, Conan earl of 
Brittany, John earl of Eu, Roger earl of Clare, earl Geof- 
frey de Mandeville, Hugh earl of Chester, William earl 
of Arundel, earl Patrick, William earl of Ferrers, Richard 
de Luci, Reginald de St. Valery, Roger Bigot, Reginald de 
Warenne, Richer de Aquila, William de Braose, Richard 
de Camville, Nigel de Mowbray, Simon de Beauchamp, 
Humphrey de Bohun, Matthew de Hereford, Walter de 
Mayenne, Manser Biset the steward, William Malet, 
William de Courcy, Robert de Dunstaville, Jocelin de 
Baillol, William de Lanvallei, William de Caisnet, Geof- 
frey de Vere, William de Hastings, Hugh de Moreville, 
Alan de Neville, Simon Fitz Peter, William Maudit the 
chamberlain, John Maudit, John Marshall, Peter de 
Mara, and many other great men and nobles of the king- 
dom both clergy and laymen. 

A certain part of the customs and dignities which were 
recognized is contained in the present writing. Of which 
part these are the articles: 

i. If a controversy arise between laymen, or between 
laymen and clerks, or between clerks concerning patron- 

371 



Source Problems in English History 

age and presentation of churches, it shall be treated or 
concluded in the court of the lord king. 

2. Churches of the lord king's fee cannot be perma- 
nently bestowed without his consent and grant. 

3. Clerks charged and accused of any matter, sum- 
moned by the king's justice, shall come into his court to 
answer there to whatever it shall seem to the king's court 
should be answered there ; and in the church court to what 
it seems should be answered there; however the king's 
justice shall send into the court of holy Church for the 
purpose of seeing how the matter shall be treated there. 
And if the clerk be convicted or confess, the church 
ought not to protect him further. 

4. It is not permitted the archbishops, bishops, and 
priests of the kingdom to leave the kingdom without the 
lord king's permission. And if they do leave they are to 
give security, if the lord king please, that they will seek 
no evil or damage to king or kingdom in going, in making 
their stay, or in returning. 

5. Excommunicate persons ought not to give security 
for an indefinite time, or give an oath, but only security 
and pledge for submitting to the judgment of the church 
in order that they may be absolved. 

6. Laymen ought not to be accused save by depend- 
able and lawful accusers and witnesses in the presence of 
the bishop, yet so that the archdeacon lose not his right 
or anything which he ought to have thence. And if 
there should be those who are deemed culpable, but 
whom no one wishes or dares to accuse, the sheriff, upon 
the bishop's request, shall cause twelve lawful men of 
the neighborhood or the vill to take oath before the 
bishop that they will show the truth of the matter ac- 
cording to their conscience. 

7. No one who holds of the king in chief or any of the 

372 



Appendix 

officials of his demesne is to be excommunicated or his 
lands placed under interdict unless the lord king, if he 
be in the land, or his justiciar, if he be outside the king- 
dom, first gives his consent, that he may do for him what 
is right: yet so that what pertains to the royal court be 
concluded there, and what looks to the church court be 
sent thither to be concluded there. 

8. As to appeals which may arise, they should pass 
from the archdeacon to the bishop, and from the bishop 
to the archbishop. And if the archbishop fail in furnishing 
justice, the matter should come to the lord king at the 
last, that at his command the litigation be concluded in 
the archbishop's court; and so because it should not 
pass further without the lord king's consent. 

9. If litigation arise between a clerk and a layman or 
between a layman and a clerk concerning any holding 
which the clerk would bring to charitable tenure but 
the layman to lay fee, it shall be determined on the de- 
cision of the king's chief justice by the recognition of 
twelve lawful men in the presence of the king's justice 
himself whether the holding pertain to charitable tenure 
or to lay fee. And if the recognition declare it to be 
charitable tenure, it shall be litigated in the church court, 
but if lay fee, unless both plead under the same bishop or 
baron, the litigation shall be in the royal court. But if 
both plead concerning that fief under the same bishop or 
baron, it shall be litigated in his court; yet so that he 
who was first seised lose not his seisin on account of the 
recognition that was made, until the matter be deter- 
mined by the plea. 

10. If any one who is of a city, castle, borough, or 
demesne manor of the king shall be cited by archdeacon 
or bishop for any offense for which he ought to be held 
answerable to them and despite their summonses he re- 

373 



Source Problems in English History 

fuse to do what is right, it is fully permissible to place 
him under interdict, but he ought not to be excommuni- 
cated before the king's chief official of that vill shall agree, 
in order that he may authoritatively constrain him to 
come to his trial. But if the king's official fail in this, 
he himself shall be in the lord king's mercy; and then 
the bishop shall be able to coerce the accused man by 
ecclesiastical authority. 

ii. Archbishops, bishops, and all ecclesiastics of the 
kingdom who hold of the king in chief have their pos- 
sessions of the lord king as barony and answer for them 
to the king's justices and ministers and follow and do 
all royal rights and customs; and they ought, just like 
other barons, to be present at the judgments of the lord 
king's court along with the barons, until it come in judg- 
ment to loss of limbs or death. 

12. When an archbishopric or bishopric, or an abbey 
or priory of the king's demesne shall be vacant, it ought 
to be in his hands, and he shall assume its revenues and 
expenses as pertaining to his demesne. And when the 
time comes to provide for the church, the lord king should 
notify the more important clergy of the church, and the 
election should be held in the lord king's own chapel 
with the assent of the lord king and on the advice of the 
clergy of the realm whom he has summoned for the pur- 
pose. And there, before he be consecrated, let the elect 
perform homage and fealty to the lord king as his liege 
lord for life, limbs, and earthly honor, saving his order. 

13. If any of the great men of the kingdom should 
forcibly prevent archbishop, bishop, or archdeacon from 
administering justice in which he or his men were con- 
cerned, then the lord king ought to bring such an one to 
justice. And if it should happen that any one deforce 
the lord king of his right, archbishops, bishops, and arch- 

374 



Appendix 

deacons ought to constrain him to make satisfaction to 
the lord king. 

14. Chattels which have been forfeited to the king are 
not to be held in churches or cemeteries against the king's 
justice, because they belong to the king whether they be 
found inside churches or outside. 

15. Pleas concerning debts, which are owed on the 
basis of an oath or in connection with which no oath has 
been taken, are in the king's justice. 

16. Sons of villeins should not be ordained without 
the consent of the lord on whose land it is ascertained 
they were born. 

The declaration of the above-mentioned royal customs 
and dignities has been made by the archbishops, bishops, 
earls, barons, and the nobler and older men of the king- 
dom, at Clarendon on the fourth day before the Purifica- 
tion of the Blessed Virgin Mary, lord Henry being pres- 
ent there with the lord king his father. There are, in- 
deed, many other great customs and dignities of holy 
mother church and of the lord king and barons of the 
kingdom, which are not included in this writing, but 
which are to be preserved to holy church and to the lord 
king and his heirs and the barons of the kingdom, and 
are to be kept inviolate for ever. 

Ill 

ASSIZE OF CLARENDON. Il66 

(Latin text, Stubbs, Select Charters, ninth edition, pp. 
170-173. Translation by the editor.) 
Here begins the Assize of Clarendon made by King 
Henry II., with the assent of archbishops, bishops, ab- 
bots, earls, and barons of all England. 

375 



Source Problems in English History 

i. In the first place the said King Henry ordained on 
the advice of all his barons, for preserving peace and 
maintaining justice, that inquiry be made through the 
several counties and through the several hundreds by 
twelve more lawful men of the hundred and by four more 
lawful men of each vill, upon oath that they will tell the 
truth, whether in their hundred or in their vill there is 
any man cited or charged as himself being a robber or 
murderer or thief or any one who has been a receiver of 
robbers or murderers or thieves since the lord king was 
king. And let the justices inquire this before themselves 
and the sheriffs before themselves. 

2. And he who shall be found by the oath of the afore- 
said cited or charged as having been a robber or murderer 
or thief or a receiver of them since the lord king was king, 
let him be arrested and go to the judgment of water, and 
let him swear that he was not a robber or murderer or 
thief or a receiver of them since the lord king was king, 
to the value of five shillings so far as he knows. 

3. And if the lord of him who was arrested or his stew- 
ard or his men demand him by pledge within the third 
day after his arrest, let him be given up and his chattels 
until he make his law. 

4. And when a robber or murderer or thief or the re- 
ceivers of them be arrested through the aforesaid oath, 
if the justices are not to come quite soon into the county 
where the arrests have been made, let the sheriffs send 
word by some intelligent man to one of the nearer jus- 
tices that such men have been taken; and the justices 
shall send back word to the sheriffs where they wish to 
have the men brought before them; and the sheriffs shall 
bring them before the justices; and also they shall bring 
with them from the hundred and the vill where the 
arrests have been made two lawful men to carry the 

376 



Appendix 

record of the county and hundred as to why the men 
were arrested, and there before the justices let them make 
their law. 

5. And in the case of those who are arrested by the 
aforesaid oath of this assize no one is to have court or 
justice or chattels except the lord king in his court before 
his justices, and the lord king shall have all their chattels. 
But as to those who have been arrested otherwise than 
by this oath, let it be as it is accustomed and ought to be. 

6. And let the sheriffs who have arrested them bring 
them before the justice without any other summons than 
they shall have from him. And when robbers, murderers, 
thieves, or their receivers, who have been arrested through 
the oath or otherwise, are turned over to the sheriffs, they 
are forthwith to receive them without delay. 

7. And in the several counties where there are no 
jails, let them be made in a borough or in some castle 
of the king at the king's expense and from his wood if 
it is near, or from some neighboring wood, on the estima- 
tion of the king's servants, to the end that the sheriffs 
may keep in them those who have been arrested by the 
officers whose function it is to do this and by their ser- 
vants. 

8. Also it is the king's will that all come to the county 
courts to make this oath, so that no one stay away on 
account of any immunity which he has or court or juris- 
diction which he has held; but they are to come to make 
this oath. 

9. And let there not be any one within a castle or out- 
side a castle, or indeed in the honor of Wallingford, who 
shall refuse to let the sheriffs enter his court or his land 
to view the frank-pledges and to see that all are under 
pledges; and let them be sent before the sheriffs under a 
free pledge. 

377 



Source Problems in English History 

10. And let no one in the cities or boroughs have men 
or receive them into his house, land, or jurisdiction, whom 
he will not undertake to produce before the justice if 
they are sought; or else let him be in frank-pledge. 

ii. And let there be no one in city or borough, inside 
or outside a castle, or in the honor of Wallingford who 
shall deny entrance to the sheriffs into their land or 
jurisdiction for the purpose of arresting those who have 
been cited or charged as being robbers or murderers or 
thieves or the receivers of them, or outlaws or those cited 
in a matter touching the forest ; but it is commanded that 
they help them in making the arrest. 

12. And if any one be taken who has the spoil of his 
robbery or theft in his possession, if he bear an ill name 
and have a notoriously bad reputation, and have no 
warrant, let him not have law. But if he be not sus- 
pected on account of what he has in his possession, let 
him go to the water. 

13. And if any one, in the presence of lawful men or 
the hundreds, make confession of robbery, murder, theft, 
or the reception of those committing them, and should 
later wish to deny it, let him not have law. 

14. Moreover the lord king wills that those who make 
their law and are quit thereby, if they have a very bad 
reputation and are publicly and scandalously decried on 
the testimony of many lawful men, shall forswear the 
king's lands, to the effect that within eight days they 
shall cross the sea unless the wind detain them; and 
with the first wind which they have thereafter they shall 
cross the sea, and they shall never return to England 
unless by the grace of the lord king; and there let them 
be outlaws, and if they return let them be taken as 
outlaws. 

15. And the lord king forbids that any waif, that is 

378 



Appendix 

to say a vagrant or unknown person, be given lodging 
with any one except in a borough; and he is not to be 
lodged there except for one night, unless he be sick while 
there or his horse, so that he is able to show an evident 
excuse. 

1 6. And if he should stay there more than one night, 
he is to be arrested and held until his lord come to stand 
pledge for him, or until he himself secure good pledges; 
and he who lodged him is also to be arrested. 

17. And if a sheriff send word to another sheriff that 
men have fled from his county to the other county be- 
cause of robbery, murder, theft, or the reception of those 
committing them, or for outlawry or an offense against 
the king's forest, let the latter sheriff arrest them; and 
indeed if he find out of himself or through others that 
such men have fled into his county, he is to arrest and 
hold them until he have sure pledges for them. 

18. And let all the sheriffs make a list of all fugitives 
who have fled from their counties; and let them do this 
before the county courts, and they shall bring the names of 
these men in writing before the justices when first they 
come to them, in order that they may be sought through- 
out all England and their chattels seized for the benefit 
of the king. 

19. And the lord king wills that as soon as the sheriffs 
receive the summonses of the itinerant justices to be be- 
fore them with their county courts, they shall assemble 
their county courts and find out all who have recently 
come into their counties, since this assize; and they are 
to send these away under pledges to appear before the 
justices, or else keep them in custody until the justices 
come to them, and then produce them before the justices. 

20. Also the lord king forbids monks or canons or any 
monastic house to receive any of the lower class of people 

2 5 379 



Source Problems in English History 

as monk, canon, or brother until his reputation be known, 
unless he be sick unto death. 

21. Moreover the lord king forbids that any one in all 
England should receive into his land or jurisdiction or 
any house of his, any of the sect of those apostates who 
have been excommunicated and branded at Oxford. And 
if any one receives them he shall be in the mercy of the 
lord king ; and the house in which they were shall be car- 
ried outside the vill and burned. And every sheriff shall 
take oath to maintain this, and he shall cause to take the 
same oath all his ministers and the baron's stewards, and 
all the knights and freeholders of the counties. 

22. And the lord king wills that this assize be held in 
his kingdom as long as it shall please him. 



IV 

MAGNA CARTA. 1215 

(Latin text and translation in McKechnie, Magna Carta, 
second edition, pp. 185-479, passim.) 
John, by the grace of God, king of England, lord of 
Ireland, duke of Normandy and Aquitaine, and count 
of Anjou, to the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, 
barons, justiciars, foresters, sheriffs, stewards, servants, 
and to all his bailiffs and liege subjects, greeting. Know 
that, having regard to God and for the salvation of our 
soul, and those of all our ancestors and heirs, and unto 
the honor of God and the advancement of holy church, 
and for the reform of our realm, by advice of our vener- 
able fathers, Stephen archbishop of Canterbury, primate 
of all England and cardinal of the holy Roman Church, 
Henry archbishop of Dublin, William of London, Peter 

380 



Appendix 

of Winchester, Jocelyn of Bath and Glastonbury, Hugh 
of Lincoln, Walter of Worcester, William of Coventry, 
Benedict of Rochester, bishops; of master Pandulf, sub- 
deacon and member of the household of our lord the Pope, 
of brother Aymeric (master of the Knights of the Temple 
in England) , and of the illustrious men William Marshall 
earl of Pembroke, William earl of Salisbury, William earl 
Warenne, William earl of Arundel, Alan of Galloway 
(constable of Scotland), Waren Fitz Gerald, Peter Fitz 
Herbert, Hubert de Burgh (seneschal of Poitou), Hugh 
de Neville, Matthew Fitz Herbert, Thomas Basset, Alan 
Basset, Philip d'Aubigny, Robert of Roppesley, John 
Marshall, John Fitz Hugh, and others, our liegemen. 

i. In the first place we have granted to God, and by 
this our present charter confirmed for us and our heirs 
for ever that the English church shall be free, and shall 
have her rights entire, and her liberties inviolate; and we 
will that it be thus observed; which is apparent from 
this that the freedom of elections, which is reckoned most 
important and very essential to the English church, we, 
of our pure and unconstrained will, did grant, and did by 
our charter confirm and did obtain the ratification of the 
same from our lord, Pope Innocent III., before the quarrel 
arose between us and our barons : and this we will observe, 
and our will is that it be observed in good faith by our 
heirs for ever. We have also granted to all freemen of 
our kingdom, for us and our heirs for ever, all the under- 
written liberties, to be had and held by them and their 
heirs, of us and our heirs for ever. 

2. If any of our earls or barons, or others holding of 
us in chief by military service shall have died, and at the 
time of his death his heir shall be of full age and owe 
"relief" he shall have his inheritance on payment of the 
ancient relief, namely the heir or heirs of an earl, £100 

33i 



Source Problems in English History 

for a whole earl's barony; the heir or heirs of a baron, 
£100 for a whole barony; the heir or heirs of a knight, 
ioos. at most for a whole knight's fee; and whoever owes 
less let him give less, according to the ancient custom of 
fiefs. 

3. If, however, the heir of any of the aforesaid has 
been under age and in wardship, let him have his inheri- 
tance without relief and without fine when he comes of 
age. 

4. The guardian of the land of an heir who is thus under 
age, shall take from the land of the heir nothing but 
reasonable produce, reasonable customs, and reasonable 
services, and that without destruction or waste of men 
or goods; and if we have committed the wardship of the 
lands of any such minor to the sheriff, or to any other 
who is responsible to us for its issues, and he has made 
destruction or waste of what he holds in wardship, we 
will take of him amends, and the land shall be committed 
to two lawful and discreet men of that fee, who shall be 
responsible for the issues to us or to him to whom we 
shall assign them; and if we have given or sold the ward- 
ship of any such land to any one and he has therein made 
destruction or waste, he shall lose that wardship, and it 
shall be transferred to two lawful and discreet men of 
that fief, who shall be responsible to us in like manner 
as aforesaid. 

5. The guardian, moreover, so long as he has the ward- 
ship of the land, shall keep up the houses, parks, fish- 
ponds, stanks, mills, and other things pertaining to the 
land, out of the issues of the same land; and he shall 
restore to the heir, when he has come to full age, all his 
land, stocked with ploughs and "waynage," according 
as the season of husbandry shall require, and the issues 
of the land can reasonably bear. 

382 



Appendix 

6. Heirs shall be married without disparagement, yet 
so that before the marriage takes place the nearest in 
blood to that heir shall have notice. 

7. A widow, after the death of her husband, shall forth- 
with and without difficulty have her marriage portion 
and inheritance ; nor shall she give anything for her dower, 
or for her marriage portion, or for the inheritance which 
her husband and she held on the day of the death of that 
husband; and she may remain in the house of her hus- 
band for forty days after his death, within which time 
her dower shall be assigned to her. 

8. No widow shall be compelled to marry, so long as 
she prefers to live without a husband; provided always 
that she gives security not to marry without our con- 
sent, if she holds of us, or without the consent of the lord 
of whom she holds, if she holds of another. 

9. Neither we nor our bailiffs shall seize any land or 
rent for any debt, so long as the chattels of the debtor 
are sufficient to repay the debt; nor shall the sureties of 
the debtor be distrained so long as the principal debtor 
is able to satisfy the debt; and if the principal debtor 
shall fail to pay the debt, having nothing wherewith to 
pay it, then the sureties shall answer for the debt; and 
let them have the lands and rents of the debtor, if they 
desire them, until they are indemnified for the debt which 
they have paid for him, unless the principal debtor can 
show proof that he is discharged thereof as against the 
said sureties 

10. If one who has borrowed from the Jews any sum, 
great or small, die before that loan can be repaid, the 
debt shall not bear interest while the heir is under age, 
of whomsoever he may hold; and if the debt fall into our 
hands, we will not take anything except the principal 
sum contained in the bond. 

383 



Source Problems in English History 

ii. And if any one die indebted to the Jews, his wife 
shall have her dower and pay nothing of that debt; and 
if any children of the deceased are left under age, neces- 
saries shall be provided for them in keeping with the 
holding of the deceased; and out of the residue the debt 
shall be paid, reserving, however, service due to feudal 
lords; in like manner let it be done touching debts due 
to others than Jews. 

12. No scutage nor aid shall be imposed on our king- 
dom, unless by common counsel of our kingdom, except 
for ransoming our person, for making our eldest son a 
knight, and for once marrying our eldest daughter; and 
for these there shall not be levied more than a reasonable 
aid. In like manner it shall be done concerning aids 
from the city of London. 

13. And the city of London shall have all its ancient 
liberties and free customs, as well by land as by water; 
furthermore, we decree and grant that all other cities, 
boroughs, towns, and ports shall have all their liberties 
and free customs. 

14. And for obtaining the common counsel of the king- 
dom anent the assessing of an aid (except in the three 
cases aforesaid) or of a scutage, we will cause to be sum- 
moned the archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls, and greater 
barons, severally by our letters; and we will moreover 
cause to be summoned generally, through our sheriffs and 
bailiffs, all others who hold of us in chief, for a fixed date, 
namely, after the expiry of at least forty days, and at a 
fixed place; and in all letters of such summons we will 
specify the reason of the summons. And when the sum- 
mons has thus been made, the business shall proceed 
on the day appointed, according to the counsel of such 
as are present, although not all who were summoned have 
come. 

384 



Appendix 

15. We will not for the future grant to any one 
license to take an aid from his own free tenants, ex- 
cept to ransom his body, to make his eldest son a 
knight, and once to marry his eldest daughter; and on 
each of these occasions there shall be levied only a 
reasonable aid. 

16. No one shall be distrained for performance of 
greater service for a knight's fee, or for any other free 
tenement, than is due therefrom. 

17. Common pleas shall not follow our court, but shall 
be held in some fixed place. 

18. Inquests of novel disseisin, of mort d' ancestor, and 
of darrein presentment, shall not be held elsewhere than 
in their own county courts and that in manner follow- 
ing, — We, or, if we should be out of the realm, our chief 
justiciar, will send two justiciars through every county 
four times a year, who shall, along with four knights of 
the county chosen by the county, hold the said assize 
in the county court, on the day and in the place of meet- 
ing of that court. 

19. And if any of the said assizes cannot be taken on 
the day of the county court, let there remain of the 
knights and freeholders, who were present at the county 
court on that day, as many as may be required for the 
efficient making of judgments, according as the business 
be more or less. 

20. A freeman shall not be amerced for a slight offense, 
except in accordance with the degree of the offense ; and 
for a grave offense he shall be amerced in accordance 
with the gravity of the offense, yet saving always his 
"contenement"; and a merchant in the same way, sav- 
ing his "merchandise"; and a villein shall be amerced 
in the same way, saving his "wainage" — if they have 
fallen into our mercy: and none of the aforesaid amerce- 

385 



Source Problems in English History 

ments shall be imposed except by the oath of honest men 
of the neighborhood. 

21. Earls and barons shall not be amerced except 
through their peers, and only in accordance with the 
degree of the offense. 

32. A clerk shall not be amerced in respect of his lay 
holding except after the manner of the others aforesaid; 
further, he shall not be amerced in accordance with the 
extent of his ecclesiastical benefice. 

23. No village or individual shall be compelled to 
make bridges at river-banks, except those who from of old 
were legally bound to do so. 

24. No sheriff, constable, coroners, or others of our 
bailiffs, shall hold pleas of our Crown. 

25. All counties, hundreds, wapentakes, and trithings 
(except our demesne manors) shall remain at the old rents, 
and without any additional payment. 

26. If any one holding of us a lay fief shall die, and 
our sheriff or bailiff shall exhibit our letters patent of 
summons for a debt which the deceased owed to us, it 
shall be lawful for our sheriff or bailiff to attach and 
catalogue chattels of the deceased, found upon the lay 
fief, to the value of that debt, at the sight of law- worthy 
men, provided always that nothing whatever be thence 
removed until the debt which is evident shall be fully 
paid to us; and the residue shall be left to the executors 
to fulfil the will of the deceased; and if there be nothing 
due from him to us, all the chattels shall go to the de- 
ceased, saving to his wife and children their reasonable 
shares. 

27. If any freeman shall die intestate, his chattels shall 
be distributed by the hands of his nearest kinsfolk and 
friends, under supervision of the church, saving to every 
one the debts which the deceased owed to him, 

386 



Appendix 

28. No constable or other bailiff of ours shall take 
corn or other provisions from any one without immediate- 
ly tendering money therefor, unless he can have postpone- 
ment thereof by permission of the seller. 

29. No constable shall compel any knight to give 
money in lieu of castle-guard, when he is willing to per- 
form it in his own person, or (if he cannot do it from 
any reasonable cause) then by another responsible man. 
Further, if we have led or sent him upon military service, 
he shall be relieved from guard in proportion to the time 
during which he has been on service because of us. 

30. No sheriff or bailiff of ours, or other person, shall 
take the horses or carts of any freeman for transport duty, 
against the will of the said freeman. 

31. Neither we nor our bailiffs shall take, for our 
castles or for any other work of ours, wood which is not 
ours, against the will of the owner of that wood. 

32. We will not retain beyond one year and one day, 
the lands of those who have been convicted of felony, and 
the lands shall thereafter be handed over to the lords of 
the fiefs. 

33. All kiddles for the future shall be removed alto- 
gether from Thames and Medway, and throughout all 
England, except upon the seashore. 

34. The writ which is called precipe shall not for the 
future be issued to any one, regarding any tenement 
whereby a freeman may lose his court. 

35. Let there be one measure of wine throughout our 
whole realm; and one measure of ale; and one measure 
of corn, to wit, "the London quarter"; and one width 
of cloth (whether dyed, or russet, or " halberget ") , to 
wit, two ells within the selvages; of weights also let it 
be as of measures. 

36. Nothing in future shall be given or taken for a 

387 



Source Problems in English History 

writ of inquisition of life or limbs, but freely it shall be 
granted, and never denied. 

37. If any one holds of us by fee-farm, by socage, or 
by burgage, and holds also land of another lord by knight's 
service, we will not (by reason of that fee-farm, socage, or 
burgage) have the wardship of the heir, or of such land 
of his as is of the fief of that other; nor shall we have 
wardship of that fee-farm, socage, or burgage, unless such 
fee-farm owes knight's service. We will not by reason of 
any small serjeanty which any one may hold of us by the 
service of rendering to us knives, arrows, or the like, have 
wardship of his heir or of the land which he holds of an- 
other lord by knight's service. 

38. No bailiff for the future shall, upon his own unsup- 
ported complaint, put any one to his "law," without 
credible witnesses brought for this purpose. 

39. No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned or dis- 
seised or exiled or in any way destroyed, nor will we go 
upon him nor send upon him, except by the lawful judg- 
ment of his peers or by the law of the land. 

40. To no one will we sell, to no one will we refuse or 
delay, right or justice. 

41. All merchants shall have safe and secure exit from 
England, and entry to England, with the right to tarry 
there and to move about as well by land as by water, for 
buying and selling by the ancient and right customs, quit 
from all evil tolls, except (in time of war) such merchants 
as are of the land at war with us. And if such are found 
in our land at the beginning of the war, they shall be de- 
tained, without injury to their bodies or goods, until in- 
formation be received by us, or by our chief justiciar, how 
the merchants of our land found in the land at war with 
us are treated; and if our men are safe there, the others 
shall be safe in our land. 

388 



Appendix 

42. It shall be lawful in future for any one (excepting 
always those imprisoned or outlawed in accordance with 
the law of the kingdom, and natives of any country at 
war with us, and merchants, who shall be treated as is 
above provided) to leave our kingdom and to return, 
safe and secure by land and water, except for a short 
period in time of war, on grounds of public policy — re- 
serving always the allegiance due to us. 

43. If any one holding of some escheat (such as the 
honor of Wallingford, Nottingham, Boulogne, Lancaster, 
or of other escheats which are in our hands and are 
baronies) shall die, his heir shall give no other relief, and 
perform no other service to us than he would have done 
to the baron, if that barony had been in the baron's hand; 
and we shall hold it in the same manner in which the 
baron held it. 

44. Men who dwell without the forest need not hence- 
forth come before our justiciars of the forest upon a gen- 
eral summons, except those who are impleaded, or who 
have become sureties for any person or persons attached 
for forest offenses. 

45. We will appoint as justices, constables, sheriffs, 
or bailiffs only such as know the law of the realm and 
mean to observe it well. 

46. All barons who have founded abbeys, concerning 
which they hold charters from the kings of England, or 
of which they have long-continued possession, shall have 
the wardship of them, when vacant, as they ought to 
have. 

47. All forests that have been made such in our time 
shall forthwith be disafforested; and a similar course shall 
be followed with regard to river-banks that have been 
placed "in defense" by us in our time. 

48. All evil customs connected with forests and warrens, 

389 



Source Problems in English History 

foresters and warreners, sheriffs and their officers, river- 
banks and their wardens, shall immediately be inquired 
into in each county by twelve sworn knights of the same 
county chosen by the honest men of the same county, and 
shall, within forty days of the said inquest, be utterly 
abolished, so as never to be restored, provided always 
that we previously have intimation thereof, or our justi- 
ciar, if we should not be in England. 

49. We will immediately restore all hostages and 
charters delivered to us by Englishmen, as sureties of the 
peace or of faithful service. 

50. We will entirely remove from their bailiwicks, the 
relations of Gerard of Athee (so that in future they shall 
have no bailiwick in England) ; namely, Engelard of 
Cigogn6, Peter, Guy, and Andrew of Chanceaux, Guy 
of Cigogn6, Geoffrey of Martigny with his brothers, 
Philip Mark with his brothers and his nephew Geoffrey, 
and the whole brood of the same. 

51. As soon as peace is restored, we will banish from 
the kingdom all foreign -born knights, cross -bowmen, 
Serjeants, and mercenary soldiers, who have come with 
horses and arms to the kingdom's hurt. 

52. If any one has been dispossessed or removed by 
us, without the legal judgment of his peers, from his lands, 
castles, franchises, or from his right, we will immediately 
restore them to him; and if a dispute arise over this, 
then let it be decided by the five-and-twenty barons of 
whom mention is made below in the clause for securing 
the peace. Moreover, for all those possessions, from 
which any one has, without the lawful judgment of his 
peers, been disseised or removed, by our father, King 
Henry, or by our brother, King Richard, and which we 
retain in our hand (or which are possessed by others, to 
whom we are bound to warrant them) we shall have 

39o 



Appendix 

respite until the usual term of crusaders; excepting those 
things about which a plea has been raised, or an inquest 
made by our order, before our taking of the cross; but 
as soon as we return from our expedition (or if perchance 
we desist from the expedition) we will immediately grant 
full justice therein. 

53. We shall have, moreover, the same respite and in 
the same manner in rendering justice concerning the dis- 
afforestation or retention of those forests which Henry 
our father and Richard our brother afforested, and con- 
cerning the wardship of lands which are of the fief of 
another (namely, such wardships as we have hitherto 
had by reason of a fief which any one held of us by knight's 
service), and concerning abbeys founded on other fiefs 
than our own, in which the lord of the fief claims to have 
right; and when we have returned, or if we desist from 
our expedition, we will immediately grant full justice to 
all who complain of such things. 

54. No one shall be arrested or imprisoned upon the 
appeal of a woman, for the death of any other than her 
husband. 

55. All fines made with us unjustly and against the 
law of the land, and all amercements imposed unjustly 
and against the law of the land, shall be entirely remitted, 
or else it shall be done concerning them according to the 
decision of the five-and-twenty barons of whom mention 
is made below in the clause for securing the peace, or ac- 
cording to the judgment of the majority of the same, 
along with the aforesaid Stephen, archbishop of Canter- 
bury, if he can be present, and such others as he may 
wish to bring with him for this purpose, and if he 
cannot be present the business shall nevertheless pro- 
ceed without him, provided always that if any one or 
more of the aforesaid five-and-twenty barons are in a 

39i 



Source Problems in English History 

similar suit, they shall be removed as far as concerns 
this particular judgment, others being substituted in 
their places after having been selected by the rest of 
the same five-and-twenty for this purpose only, and after 
having been sworn. 

56. If we have disseised or removed Welshmen from 
lands or liberties, or other things, without the legal judg- 
ment of their peers in England or in Wales, they shall 
be immediately restored to them; and if a dispute arise 
over this, then let it be decided in the marches by the 
judgment of their peers; for tenements in England ac- 
cording to the law of England, for tenements in Wales 
according to the law of Wales, and for tenements in the 
marches according to the law of the marches. Welsh- 
men shall do the same to us and ours. 

57. Further, for all those possessions from which any 
Welshman has, without the lawful judgment of his peers, 
been disseised or removed by King Henry our father or 
King Richard our brother, and which we retain in our 
hand (or which are possessed by others, to whom we are 
bound to warrant them) we shall have respite until the 
usual term of crusaders; excepting those things about 
which a plea has been raised or an inquest made by our 
order before we took the cross; but as soon as we return 
(or if perchance we desist from our expedition), we will 
immediately grant full justice in accordance with the 
laws of the Welsh and in relation to the foresaid 
regions. 

58. We will immediately give up the son of Llywelyn 
and all the hostages of Wales, and the charters delivered 
to us as security for the peace. 

59. We will do toward Alexander, King of Scots, con- 
cerning the return of his sisters and his hostages, and 
concerning his franchises, and his right, in the same 

392 



Appendix 

manner as we shall do toward our other barons of Eng- 
land, unless it ought to be otherwise according to the 
charters which we hold from William his father, formerly 
King of Scots ; and this shall be according to the judgment 
of his peers in our court. 

60. Moreover, all these aforesaid customs and liber- 
ties, the observance of which we have granted in our 
kingdom as far as pertains to us toward our men, 
shall be observed by all of our kingdom, as well 
clergy as laymen, as far as pertains to them toward 
their men. 

61. Since, moreover, for God and the amendment of 
our kingdom and for the better allaying of the quarrel 
that has arisen between us and our barons, we have 
granted all these concessions, desirous that they should 
enjoy them in complete and firm endurance for ever, we 
give and grant to them the underwritten security, name- 
ly, that the barons choose five-and-twenty barons of the 
kingdom, whomsoever they will, who shall be bound with 
all their might, to observe and hold, and cause to be ob- 
served, the peace and liberties we have granted and con- 
firmed to them by this our present Charter, so that if we, 
or our justiciar, or our bailiffs or any one of our officers, 
shall in anything be at fault toward any one, or shall have 
broken any one of the articles of the peace or of this 
security, and the offense be notified to four barons of the 
foresaid five-and-twenty, the said four barons shall re- 
pair to us (or our justiciar, if we are out of the realm) 
and, laying the transgression before us, petition to 
have that transgression redressed without delay. And 
if we shall not have corrected the transgression (or, in 
the event of our being out of the realm, if our justiciar 
shall not have corrected it) within forty days, reckoning 
from the time it has been intimated to us (or to our 

393 



Source Problems in English History 

justiciar, if we should be out of the realm), the four barons 
aforesaid shall refer that matter to the rest of the five- 
and-twenty barons, and those five-and-twenty barons 
shall, together with the community of the whole land, 
distrain and distress us in all possible ways, namely, by 
seizing our castles, lands, possessions, and in any other 
way they can, until redress has been obtained as they 
deem fit, saving harmless our own person, and the per- 
sons of our queen and children; and when redress has 
been obtained, they shall resume their old relations tow- 
ard us. And let whoever in the country desires it, swear 
to obey the orders of the said five-and-twenty barons for 
the execution of all the aforesaid matters, and along with 
them, to molest us to the utmost of his power; and we 
publicly and freely grant leave to every one who wishes 
to swear, and we shall never forbid any one to swear. 
All those, moreover, in the land who of themselves and of 
their own accord are unwilling to swear to the twenty- 
five to help them in constraining and molesting us, we 
shall by our command compel the same to swear to the 
effect foresaid. And if any one of the five-and-twenty 
barons shall have died or departed from the land, or be 
incapacitated in any other manner which would pre- 
vent the foresaid provisions being carried out, those of 
the said twenty-five barons who are left shall choose an- 
other in his place according to their own judgment, and 
he shall be sworn in the same way as the others. Further, 
in all matters, the execution of which is intrusted to these 
twenty-five barons, if perchance these twenty-five are 
present and disagree about anything, or if some of them, 
after being summoned, are unwilling or unable to be 
present, that which the majority of those present ordain 
or command shall be held as fixed and established, exactly 
as if the whole twenty-five had concurred in this; and 

394 



Appendix 

the said twenty-five shall swear that they will faithfully 
observe all that is aforesaid, and cause it to be observed 
with all their might. And we shall procure nothing from 
any one, directly or indirectly, whereby any part of these 
concessions and liberties might be revoked or diminished ; 
and if any such thing has been procured, let it be void 
and null, and we shall never use it personally or by 
another. 

62. And all the ill-will, hatreds, and bitterness that 
have arisen between us and our men, clergy and lay, 
from the date of the quarrel, we have completely remitted 
and pardoned to every one. Moreover, all trespasses 
occasioned by the said quarrel, from Easter in the six- 
teenth year of our reign till the restoration of peace, we 
have fully remitted to all, both clergy and laymen, and 
completely forgiven, as far as pertains to us. And, 
on this head, we have caused to be made for them 
letters testimonial patent of the lord Stephen, arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, of the lord Henry, archbishop 
of Dublin, of the bishops aforesaid, and of Master 
Pandulf as touching this security and the concessions 
aforesaid. 

63. Wherefore it is our will, and we firmly enjoin, that 
the English Church be free, and that the men in our 
kingdom have and hold all the aforesaid liberties, rights, 
and concessions, well and peaceably, freely and quietly, 
fully and wholly, for themselves and their heirs, of us 
and our heirs, in all respects and in all places for ever, as 
is aforesaid. An oath, moreover, has been taken, as well 
on our part as on the part of the barons, that all these 
conditions aforesaid shall be kept in good faith and with- 
out evil intent. Given under our hand — the above- 
named and many others being witnesses — in the meadow 
which is called Runnymede, between Windsor and 

26 395 



Source Problems in English History 

Staines, on the fifteenth day of June, in the seventeenth 
year of our reign. 

V 

CONFIRMATION OF THE CHARTERS. 1 297 

(French text and translation in Stubbs, Select Charters, 
ninth edition, pp. 490-493.) 

I. Edward, by the grace of God, King of England, Lord 
of Ireland, and Duke of Aquitaine, to all those that these 
present letters shall hear or see, greeting. Know ye that 
we to the honor of God and of holy Church, and to the 
profit of all our realm, have granted for us and our heirs, 
that the Great Charter of Liberties and the Charter of 
the Forest, which were made by common assent of all 
the realm, in the time of King Henry our father, shall be 
kept in every point without breach. And we will that 
these same charters shall be sent under our seal to our 
justices, both to those of the forest and to the rest, and 
to all sheriffs of shires, and to all our other officers, and 
to all our cities throughout the realm, together with our 
writs in which it shall be contained, that they cause the 
aforesaid charters to be published, and have it declared 
to the people that we have granted that they shall be 
observed in all points, and that our justices, sheriffs, 
mayors, and other officials which under us have to ad- 
minister the laws of our land, shall allow the said charters 
in pleas before them and in judgments in all their points; 
that is to wit, the Great Charter as the common law and 
the Charter of the Forest according to the Assize of the 
Forest, for the relief of our people. 

II. And we will that if any judgment be given from 
henceforth, contrary to the points of the charters afore- 

396 



Appendix 

said, by the justices or by any other our ministers that 
hold plea before them against the points of the charters, 
it shall be undone and holden for naught. 

III. And we will that the same charters shall be sent 
under our seal to cathedral churches throughout our 
realm, and there remain, and shall be read before the 
people twice in the year. 

IV. And that archbishops and bishops shall pronounce 
sentences of greater excommunication against all those 
that by word, deed, or counsel shall go against the fore- 
said charters, or that in any point break or go against 
them. And that the said curses be twice a year denounced 
and published by the prelates aforesaid. And if the same 
prelates or any of them be remiss in the denunciation of 
the said sentences, the Archbishops of Canterbury and 
York for the time being, as is fitting, shall reprove them 
and constrain them to make that denunciation in form 
aforesaid. 

V. And for so much as divers people of our realm are 
in fear that the aids and mises which they have given 
to us beforetime toward our wars and other businesses, 
of their own grant and good-will, howsoever they were 
made, might turn to a bondage to them and their heirs, 
because they might be at another time found in the rolls, 
and so likewise the prises taken throughout the realm by 
our ministers in our name: we have granted for us and 
our heirs, that we shall never draw such aids, mises, nor 
prises into a custom for anything that hath been done 
heretofore or that may be found by roll or in any other 
manner. 

VI. Moreover we have granted for us and our heirs, 
as well to archbishops, bishops, abbots, priors, and other 
folk of holy Church, as also to earls, barons, and to all 
the community of the land, that for no business from 

397 



Source Problems in English History 

henceforth will we take such manner of aids, mises, nor 
prises from our realm, but by the common assent of all 
the realm, and for the common profit thereof, saving the 
ancient aids and prises due and accustomed. 

VII. And for so much as the more part of the com- 
munity of the realm find themselves sore grieved with 
the maletote on wools, that is to wit, a toll of forty shil- 
lings for every sack of wool, and have made petition to 
us to release the same; we, at their requests, have fully 
released it, and have granted that we shall never take 
this nor any other without their common assent and 
good-will; saving to us and our heirs the custom of wools, 
skins, and leather granted before by the commonalty 
aforesaid. In witness of which things we have caused to 
be made these our letters patent. Given at Ghent the 
fifth day of November in the twenty-fifth year of our 
reign. 



VI 

PETITION OF RIGHT. 1 628 

(Stubbs, Select Charters, eighth edition, pp. 515-517.) 
The Petition exhibited to his Majesty by the Lords 
Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this pres- 
ent Parliament assembled, concerning divers Rights 
and Liberties of the Subjects, with the King's Maj- 
esty's royal answer thereunto in full Parliament. 

TO THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY 

Humbly show unto our Sovereign Lord the King, the 
Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons in Parlia- 
ment assembled, that whereas it is declared and enacted 

398 



Appendix 

by a statute made in the time of the reign of King Edward 
I., commonly called Statutum de Tallagio non Concedendo, 
that no tallage or aid shall be laid or levied by the king 
or his heirs in this realm, without the good-will and as- 
sent of the archbishops, bishops, earls, barons, knights, 
burgesses, and other the freemen of the commonalty of 
this realm; and by authority of parliament holden in the 
five-and-twentieth year of the reign of King Edward III., 
it is declared and enacted, that from thenceforth no per- 
son should be compelled to make any loans to the king 
against his will, because such loans were against reason 
and the franchise of the land; and by other laws of this 
realm it is provided, that none should be charged by any 
charge or imposition called a benevolence, nor by such 
like charge; by which statutes before mentioned, and 
other the good laws and statutes of this realm, your sub- 
jects have inherited this freedom, that they should not be 
compelled to contribute to any tax, tallage, aid, or other 
like charge not set by common consent, in parliament. 

II. Yet nevertheless of late divers commissions di- 
rected to sundry commissioners in several counties, with 
instructions, have issued; by means whereof your people 
have been in divers places assembled, and required to 
lend certain sums of money unto your Majesty, and many 
of them, upon their refusal so to do, have had an oath 
administered unto them not warrantable by the laws or 
statutes of this realm, and have been constrained to be- 
come bound and make appearance and give utterance 
before your Privy Council and in other places, and others 
of them have been therefore imprisoned, confined, and 
sundry other ways molested and disquieted; and divers 
other charges have been laid and levied upon your people 
in several counties by lord lieutenants, deputy lieutenants, 
commissioners for musters, justices of peace and others, 

399 



Source Problems in English History 

by command or direction from your Majesty, or your 
Privy Council, against the laws and free customs of the 
realm. 

III. And whereas also by the statute called "The Great 
Charter of the liberties of England," it is declared and 
enacted, that no freeman may be taken or imprisoned or 
be disseised of his freehold or liberties, or his free customs, 
or be outlawed or exiled, or in any manner destroyed, but 
by the lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the 
land. 

IV. And in the eight-and-twentieth year of the reign 
of King Edward III., it was declared and enacted by 
authority of parliament, that no man, of what estate or 
condition that he be, should be put out of his land or 
tenements, nor taken, nor imprisoned, nor disherited, nor 
put to death without being brought to answer by due 
process of law. 

V. Nevertheless, against the tenor of the said statutes, 
and other the good laws and statutes of your realm to 
that end provided, divers of your subjects have of late 
been imprisoned without any cause showed; and when 
for their deliverance they were brought before your jus- 
tices by your Majesty's writs of habeas corpus, there to 
undergo and receive as the court should order, and their 
keepers commanded to certify the causes of their detainer, 
no cause was certified, but that they were detained by 
your Majesty's special command, signified by the lords 
of your Privy Council, and yet were returned back to 
several prisons, without being charged with anything to 
which they might make answer according to the law. 

VI. And whereas of late great companies of soldiers 
and mariners have been dispersed into divers counties 
of the realm, and the inhabitants against their wills have 
been compelled to receive them into their houses, and 

400 



Appendix 

there to suffer them to sojourn against the laws and cus- 
toms of this realm, and to the great grievance and vexa- 
tion of the people. 

VII. And whereas also by authority of parliament, in 
the five-and-twentieth year of the reign of King Edward 
III., it is declared and enacted, that no man shall be fore- 
judged of life or limb against the form of the Great Char- 
ter and the law of the land; and by the said Great Char- 
ter and other the laws and statutes of this your realm, 
no man ought to be adjudged to death but by the laws 
established in this your realm, either by the customs of 
the same realm, or by acts of parliament: and whereas 
no offender of what kind soever is exempted from the 
proceedings to be used, and punishments to be inflicted 
by the laws and statutes of this your realm; neverthe- 
less of late time divers commissions under your Majesty's 
great seal have issued forth by which certain persons have 
been assigned and appointed commissioners with power 
and authority to proceed within the land, according to 
the justice of martial law, against such soldiers or mari- 
ners, or other dissolute persons joining with them, as 
should commit any murder, robbery, felony, mutiny, or 
other outrage or misdemeanor whatsoever, and by such 
summary course and order as is agreeable to martial law, 
and as is used in armies in time of war, to proceed to the 
trial and condemnation of such offenders, and them to 
cause to be executed and put to death according to the 
law martial. 

VIII. By pretext whereof some of your Majesty's sub- 
jects have been by some of the said commissioners put 
to death, when and where, if by the laws and statutes of 

\ the land they had deserved death, by the same laws and 
statutes also they might, and by no other ought to have 
been judged and executed. 

401 



Source Problems in English History 

IX. And also sundry grievous offenders, by color 
thereof claiming an exemption, have escaped the punish- 
ments due to them by the laws and statutes of this your 
realm, by reason that divers of your officers and ministers 
of justice have unjustly refused or forborne to proceed 
against such offenders according to the same laws and 
statutes, upon pretense that the said offenders were 
punishable only by martial law, and by authority of such 
commissions as aforesaid; which commissions, and all 
other of like nature, are wholly and directly contrary to 
the said laws and statutes of this your realm. 

X. They do therefore humbly pray your most excel- 
lent Majesty, that no man hereafter be compelled to 
make or yield any gift, loan, benevolence, tax, or such 
like charge, without common consent by act of parlia- 
ment; and that none be called to make answer, or take 
such oath, or to give attendance, or be confined, or other- 
wise molested or disquieted concerning the same or for 
refusal thereof; and that no freeman, in any such manner 
as is before mentioned, be imprisoned or detained; and 
that your Majesty would be pleased to remove the said 
soldiers and mariners, and that your people may not be 
so burdened in time to come; and that the aforesaid com- 
missions, for proceeding by martial law, may be revoked 
and annulled; and that hereafter no commissions of like 
nature may issue forth to any person or persons whatso- 
ever to be executed as aforesaid, lest by color of them 
any of your Majesty's subjects be destroyed or put to 
death contrary to the laws and franchise of the land. 

XI. All which they most humbly pray of your most 
excellent Majesty as their rights and liberties, according 
to the laws and statutes of this realm; and that your 
Majesty would also vouchsafe to declare, that the awards, 
doings, and proceedings, to the prejudice of your people 

402 



Appendix 

in any of the premises, shall not be drawn hereafter in 
consequence or example; and that your Majesty would 
be also graciously pleased, for the further comfort and 
safety of your people, to declare your royal will and pleas- 
ure, that in the things aforesaid all your officers and 
ministers shall serve you according to the laws and 
statutes of this realm, as they tender the honor of your 
Majesty, and the prosperity of this kingdom. 

Qua quidem petitione lecta et plenius intellecta per dictum 
dominum regem taliter est responsum in pleno parliamento 
vis. Soit droit fait come est desire". 1 



VII 

BILL OF RIGHTS. 1 689 

(Stubbs, Select Charters, eighth edition, pp. 523-528.) 

Whereas the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Com- 
mons, assembled at Westminster, lawfully, fully, and freely 
representing all the estates of the people of this realm, 
did, upon the thirteenth day of February, in the year of 
our Lord one thousand six hundred eighty-eight, present 

1 "Which petition having been read and more fully understood, 
answer was made thus in full parliament by the said lord king, to 
wit: Let right be done as it is petitioned." This final and satis- 
factory answer of the king was obtained on June 7th. The compara- 
tive adverb plenius ("more fully") is perhaps reminiscent of the 
reading five days earlier when the king had returned his evasive 
answer in these words: "The King willeth that right be done ac- 
cording to the laws and customs of the realm; and that the statutes 
be put in due execution, that his subjects may have no cause to 
complain of any wrong or oppressions, contrary to their just rights 
and liberties, to the preservation whereof he holds himself as well 
obliged as of his prerogative." The Commons wished a specific 
confirmation of the laws cited in the Petition, 

403 



Source Problems in English History 

unto their Majesties, then called and known by the names 
and style of William and Mary, Prince and Princess of 
Orange, being present in their proper persons, a certain 
declaration in writing, made by the said Lords and Com- 
mons, in the words following; viz.: — 

Whereas the late King James II., by the assistance of 
diverse evil counsellors, judges, and ministers employed 
by him, did endeavor to subvert and extirpate the Prot- 
estant religion, and the laws and liberties of this 
kingdom: 

i. By assuming and exercising a power of dispensing 
with and suspending of laws, and the execution of laws, 
without consent of parliament. 

2. By committing and prosecuting diverse worthy pre- 
lates, for humbly petitioning to be excused from con- 
curring to the same assumed power. 

3. By issuing and causing to be executed a commission 
under the Great Seal for erecting a court, called the Court 
of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes. 

4. By levying money for and to the use of the Crown, 
by pretense of prerogative, for other time, and in other 
manner than the same was granted by parliament. 

5. By raising and keeping a standing army within this, 
kingdom in time of peace, without consent of parlia- 
ment, and quartering soldiers contrary to law. 

6. By causing several good subjects, being Protestants, 
to be disarmed, at the same time when Papists were both 
armed and employed contrary to law. 

7. By violating the freedom of election of members to 
serve in parliament. 

8. By prosecutions in the Court of King's Bench, for 
matters and causes cognizable only in parliament; and 
by diverse other arbitrary and illegal courses. 

9. And whereas of late years, partial, corrupt, and un- 

404 



Appendix 

qualified persons have been returned and served on juries 
in trials, and particularly diverse jurors in trials for high 
treason, which were not freeholders. 

10. And excessive bail hath been required of persons 
committed in criminal cases, to elude the benefit of the 
laws made for the liberty of the subjects. 

ii. And excessive fines have been imposed; and illegal 
and cruel punishments inflicted. 

12. And several grants and promises made of fines and 
forfeitures, before any conviction or judgment against 
the persons upon whom the same were to be levied. 

All which are utterly and directly contrary to the known 
laws and statutes, and freedom of this realm. 

And whereas the said late King James II. having ab- 
dicated the government, and the throne being thereby 
vacant, his Highness the Prince of Orange (whom it hath 
pleased Almighty God to make the glorious instrument 
of delivering this kingdom from popery and arbitrary 
power) did (by the advice of the Lords Spiritual and Tem- 
poral, and diverse principal persons of the Commons) 
cause letters to be written to the Lords Spiritual and 
Temporal, being Protestants, and other letters to the 
several counties, cities, universities, boroughs, and cinque 
ports, for the choosing of such persons as represent them, 
as were of right to be sent to parliament, to meet and sit 
at Westminster upon the two-and-twentieth day of Jan- 
uary, in this year one thousand six hundred eighty and 
eight, in order to such an establishment, as that their 
religion, laws, and liberties might not again be in danger 
of being subverted; upon which letters, elections have 
been accordingly made. 

And thereupon the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, 
and Commons, pursuant to their respective letters and 
elections, being now assembled in a full and free repre- 

405 



Source Problems in English History 

sentation of this nation, taking into their most serious 
consideration the best means for attaining the ends afore- 
said, do in the first place (as their ancestors in like case 
have usually done) , for the vindicating and asserting their 
ancient rights and liberties, declare: — 

i. That the pretended power of suspending of laws, 
or the execution of laws, by regal authority, without 
consent of parliament, is illegal. 

2. That the pretended power of dispensing with laws, 
or the execution of laws, by regal authority, as it hath 
been assumed and exercised of late, is illegal. 

3. That the commission for erecting the late Court 
of Commissioners for Ecclesiastical Causes, and all other 
commissions and courts of like nature, are illegal and 
pernicious. 

4. That levying money for or to the use of the Crown, 
by pretense of prerogative, without grant of parliament, 
for longer time or in other manner than the same is or 
shall be granted, is illegal. 

5. That it is the right of the subjects to petition the 
king, and all commitments and prosecutions for such 
petitioning are illegal. 

6. That the raising or keeping of a standing army 
within the kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with 
consent of parliament, is against law. 

7. That the subjects which are Protestants may have 
arms for their defense suitable to their conditions, and 
as allowed by law. 

8. That election of members of parliament ought to 
be free. 

9. That the freedom of speech, and debates or pro- 
ceedings in parliament, ought not to be impeached or 
questioned in any court or place out of parliament. 

10. That excessive bail ought not to be required, nor 

406 



Appendix 

excessive fines imposed; nor cruel and unusual punish- 
ments inflicted. 

ii. That jurors ought to be duly impaneled and re- 
turned, and jurors which pass upon men in trials for high 
treason ought to be freeholders. 

12. That all grants and promises of fines and for- 
feitures of particular persons before conviction, are il- 
legal and void. 

13. And that for redress of all grievances, and for the 
amending, strengthening, and preserving of the laws, 
parliament ought to be held frequently. 

And they do claim, demand, and insist upon all and 
singular the premises, as their undoubted rights and lib- 
erties; and that no declarations, judgments, doings, or 
proceedings, to the prejudice of the people in any of the 
said premises, ought in any wise to be drawn hereafter 
into consequence or example. 

To which demand of their rights they are particularly 
encouraged by the declaration of his Highness the Prince 
of Orange, as being the only means for obtaining a full 
redress and remedy therein. 

Having therefore an entire confidence that his said 
Highness the Prince of Orange will perfect the deliver- 
ance so far advanced by him, and will still preserve them 
from the violation of their rights, which they have here 
asserted, and from all other attempts upon their religion, 
rights, and liberties: 

II. The said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Com- 
mons, assembled at Westminster, do resolve, that William 
and Mary, Prince and Princess of Orange, be, and be 
declared, King and Queen of England, France, and Ire- 
land, and the dominions thereunto belonging, to hold the 
Crown and royal dignity of the said kingdoms and do- 
minions to them the said Prince and Princess during their 

407 



Source Problems in English History 

lives, and the life of the survivor of them; and that the 
sole and full exercise of the regal power be only in, and 
executed by, the said Prince of Orange, in che names 
of the said Prince and Princess, during their joint lives; 
and after their deceases, the said Crown and royal dignity 
of the said kingdoms and dominions to be to the heirs of 
the body of the said Princess; and for default of such issue 
to the Princess Anne of Denmark, and the heirs of her 
bpdy; and for default of such issue to the heira of the 
body of the said Prince of Orange. And the Lords 
Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, do pray the said 
Prince and Princess to accept the same accordingly. 

III. And that the oaths hereafter mentioned be taken 
by all persons of whom the oaths of allegiance and su- 
premacy might be required by law, instead of them; and 
that the said oaths of allegiance and supremacy be ab- 
rogated. 

I, A.B., do sincerely promise and swear, That I will be 
faithful and bear true allegiance to their Majesties King 
William and Queen Mary: So help me God. 

I, A.B., do swear, That I do from my heart, abhor, 
detest, and abjure as impious and heretical, that damn- 
able doctrine and position, that Princes excommunicated 
or deprived by the Pope, or any authority of the See of 
Rome, may be deposed or murdered by their subjects, 
or any other whatsoever. And I do declare, That no 
foreign prince, person, prelate, state, or potentate hath, 
or ought to have, any jurisdiction, power, superiority, pre- 
eminence, or authority ecclesiastical or spiritual, within 
this realm: So help me God. 

IV. Upon which their said Majesties did accept the 

408 



Appendix 

Crown and royal dignity of the kingdoms of England, 
France, and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto be- 
longing, according to the resolution and desire of the 
said Lords and Commons contained in the said declara- 
tion. 

V. And thereupon their Majesties were pleased, that 
the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, 
being the two Houses of Parliament, should continue to 
sit, and with their Majesties' royal concurrence make 
effectual provision for the settlement of the religion, laws, 
and liberties of this kingdom, so that the same for the 
future might not be in danger again of being subverted; 
to which the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and 
Commons, did agree and proceed to act accordingly. 

VI. Now in pursuance of the premises, the said Lords 
Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in parliament 
assembled, for the ratifying, confirming, and establishing 
the said declaration, and the articles, clauses, matters, 
and things therein contained, by the force of law made 
in due form by authority of parliament, do pray that it 
may be declared and enacted, That all and singular the 
rights and liberties asserted and claimed in the said decla- 
ration, are the true, ancient, and indubitable rights and 
liberties of the people of this kingdom, and so shall be 
esteemed, allowed, adjudged, deemed, and taken to be, 
and that all and every the particulars aforesaid shall be 
firmly and strictly holden and observed, as they are ex- 
pressed in the said declaration; and all officers and 
ministers whatsoever shall serve their Majesties and their 
successors according to the same in all times to come. 

VII. And the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and 
Commons, seriously considering how it has pleased Al- 
mighty God, in His marvelous providence, and merciful 
goodness to this nation, to provide and preserve their 

409 



Source Problems in English History 

said Majesties' royal persons most happily to reign over 
us upon the throne of their ancestors, for which they 
render unto Him from the bottom of their hearts their 
humblest thanks and praises, do truly, firmly, assuredly, 
and in the sincerity of their hearts, think, and do hereby 
recognize, acknowledge, and declare, that King James II. 
having abdicated the government, and their Majesties 
having accepted the Crown and royal dignity aforesaid, 
their said Majesties did become, were, are, and of right 
ought to be, by the laws of this realm, our sovereign liege 
Lord and Lady, King and Queen of England, France, and 
Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, in and 
to whose princely persons the royal State, Crown, and 
dignity of the same realms, with all honors, styles, titles, 
regalities, prerogatives, powers, jurisdictions, and au- 
thorities to the same belonging and appertaining, are most 
fully, rightfully, and entirely invested and incorporated, 
united, and annexed. 

VIII. And for preventing all questions and divisions 
in this realm, by reason of any pretended titles to the 
Crown, and for preserving a certainty in the succession 
thereof, in and upon which the unity, peace, tranquility, 
and safety of this nation doth, under God, wholly con- 
sist and depend, the said Lords Spiritual and Temporal, 
and Commons, do beseech their Majesties that it may be 
enacted, established, and declared, that the Crown and 
regal government of the said kingdoms and dominions, 
with all and singular the premises thereunto belonging 
and appertaining, shall be and continue to their said 
Majesties, and the survivor of them, during their lives, 
and the life of the survivor of them. And that the entire, 
perfect, and full exercise of the regal power and govern- 
ment be only in, and executed by, his Majesty, in the 
names of both their Majesties during their joint lives; 

410 



Appendix 

and after their deceases the said Crown and premises 
shall be and remain to the heirs of the body of her Maj- 
esty: and for default of such issue, to her Royal High- 
ness the Princess Anne of Denmark, and the heirs of her 
body; and for default of such issue, to the heirs of the 
body of his said Majesty: and thereunto the said Lords 
Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, do, in the name 
of all the people aforesaid, most humbly and faithfully 
submit themselves, their heirs and posterities, for ever: 
and do faithfully promise, That they will stand to, main- 
tain, and defend their said Majesties, and also the limita- 
tion and succession of the Crown herein specified and 
contained, to the utmost of their powers, with their lives 
and estates, against all persons whatsoever that shall 
attempt anything to the contrary. 

IX. And whereas it hath been found by experience, 
that it is inconsistent with the safety and welfare of this 
Protestant kingdom, to be governed by a Popish prince, 
or by any king or queen marrying a Papist, the said 
Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, do further 
pray that it may be enacted, That all and every person 
and persons that is, are, or shall be reconciled to, or shall 
hold communion with, the See or Church of Rome, or 
shall profess the Popish religion, or shall marry a Papist, 
shall be excluded, and be for ever incapable to inherit, 
possess, or enjoy the Crown and government of this realm, 
and Ireland, and the dominions thereunto belonging, or 
any part of the same, or to have, use, or exercise any 
regal power, authority, or jurisdiction within the same; 
and in all and every such case or cases the people of these 
realms shall be and are hereby absolved of their allegiance; 
and the said Crown and government shall from time to 
time descend to, and be enjoyed by, such person or persons, 
being Protestants, as should have inherited and enjoyed 

27 411 



Source Problems in English History 

the same, in case the said person or persons so reconciled 
holding communion, or professing, or marrying as afore- 
said, were naturally dead. 

X. And that every king and queen of this realm, who 
at any time hereafter shall come to and succeed in the 
Imperial Crown of this kingdom, shall, on the first day 
of the meeting of the first parliament, next after his or her 
coming to the Crown, sitting in his or her throne in the 
House of Peers, in the presence of the Lords and Com- 
mons therein assembled, or at his or her coronation, be- 
fore such person or persons who shall administer the 
coronation oath to him or her, at the time of his or her 
taking the said oath (which shall first happen), make, 
subscribe, and audibly repeat the declaration mentioned 
in the statute made in the thirteenth year of the reign of 
King Charles II., intituled "An Act for the more effectual 
preserving the King's person and government, by dis- 
abling Papists from sitting in either House of Parliament." 
But if it shall happen, that such king or queen, upon his 
or her succession to the Crown of this realm, shall be 
under the age of twelve years, then every such king or 
queen shall make, subscribe, and audibly repeat the said 
declaration at his or her coronation, or the first day of 
meeting of the first parliament as aforesaid, which shall 
first happen after such king or queen shall have attained 
the said age of twelve years. 

XI. All of which their Majesties are contented and 
pleased shall be declared, enacted, and established by 
authority of this present parliament, and shall stand, re- 
main, and be the law of this realm for ever; and the same 
are by their said Majesties, by and with the advice and 
consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Com- 
mons, in parliament assembled, and by the authority of 
the same, declared, enacted, or established accordingly. 

412 



Appendix 

XII. And be it further declared and enacted by the 
authority aforesaid, That from and after this present 
session of parliament, no dispensation by non obstante of 
or to any statute, or any part thereof, shall be allowed, 
but that the same shall be held void and of no effect, 
except a dispensation be allowed of in such statute, and 
except in such cases as shall be specially provided for by 
one or more bill or bills to be passed during this present 
session of parliament. 

XIII. Provided that no charter, or grant, or pardon 
granted before the three-and-twentieth day of October, 
in the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred eighty- 
nine, shall be any ways impeached or invalidated by this 
act, but that the same shall be and remain of the same force 
and effect in law, and no other, than as if this act had 
never been made. 



INDEX 



Adams, John, 285, 286 and notes, 
296, 305. 

Alford, Edward, speech in the 
Commons, 210-21 1. 

Alfred, see Problem I. 

Alured, Thomas, letter to Cham- 
berlain, 234, note. 

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 7-9; ex- 
cerpt from, 12, 16; 20, note 2. 

Annals of St. Helens, Bishops- 
gate, London, 245; excerpt 
from, 257-261. 

Anne, App., 408, 411. 

Annual Register, 340; excerpts 
from, 345-349, 352, 354-355, 
357-360, 361-363. 

Apology of the Commons, 1604, 
excerpts from, 203-205. 

Artisans, 143 and note 2, 149, 
150, 152. 

Asquith, Herbert, prime minister 
speech at Birmingham, 346- 
347; in the Commons, 350-351, 
355, 357, 362-363; at Albert 
Hall, 352-353; resolutions of, 
356-357; at National Liberal 
Club, 359; letter to Balfour, 
361. 

Asser, 8, 9; excerpt from his Life 
of King Alfred, 16-25. 

Assize, Grand, 44, 45, 59, 60, 
62, 63. 

Assize of Arms, 77-78; excerpts 
from text of, 90-91. 



Assize of Clarendon, 39, 42, 43, 56, 
76, 78; text of, App., 375, 380. 

Assize of Northampton, 43; ex- 
cerpts from, 56-58, 78. 

Assizes, 42, 94-95. 

Athelney, 12, 13, 18, 19, 26. 

Autobiography of the Duke of 
Grafton, 288, 289; excerpts 
from, 317. 

B 

Bacon, Sir Francis, speech in the 
House, 206. 

Balfour, Arthur, 339, 346, 347; 
in the Commons, 351-352; 
election address, 353-354; let- 
ter from Asquith, 361. 

Bate case, the, 205, note. 

Benevolences, App., 399. 

Bill of Rights, text of, App., 403- 

413. 
Billeting of soldiers, App., 400- 

401, 404. 
Black Death, 115, 116, 132, 134- 

141, 147. 
Borlase MS. of the Parliament of 

1628, 180, 181; excerpts from, 

231, 233. 
Boroughs, 37, 82, 83, 91, 94, 98, 

103, 144, 145; App., 378, 379, 

384- 
Boston Town Records, 245-246; 

excerpts from, 264-277. 
Bracton, De Legibus Angliac, 

quoted, 196, note. 



415 



Source Problems in English History 



Bright, John, quoted 334. 

Bromley, Sir Henry, summoned 
before the Council, 201-202. 

Brook, Christopher, speech in 
the House, 221. 

Buckhurst, Lord, privy coun- 
cilor, 202. 

Buckingham, Duke of, impeach- 
ment of, 225-226, 230, 231, 

233-234- 
Budget of 1909, see Problem 

VIII. 
Burghley, Lord, 186, 190, 202. 



Cabinet, 285, 287, 289, 296, 317- 
319, 332 and note, 337. 

Calendars of State Papers, 176- 
179; excerpts from, Domestic, 
190-192, 208-209, 224-225; 
Spanish 1558-1567, 187-190; 
Venetian, 1621-1623, 224. 

Calvert, George, secretary of 
state, speeches in the Com- 
mons, 222-223. 

Cambridge, Town and Selectmen's 
Records, Newtowne and, 246; 
excerpts from, 279-280. 

Canada, 283, 295, 322, 323, 325, 
326. 

Carleton, Sir Dudley, vice-cham- 
berlain, letters from Cham- 
berlain and Winwood, 209; 
speeches in the House, 227 
and note, 230. 

Carncage, 37, 81; writ for col- 
lection of, 95-96. 

Cecil, Sir Robert, privy coun- 
cilor, speech in the House, 
199. 

Chamberlain, John, letter to 
Carleton, 209; letter from 
Alured, 234, note. 

Charlemagne, 16, 24, 30. 

Charles L, 210, 211, 212; and 
Parliament, 225-238; App.,388. 



4i 



Charles II., App., 412. 

Charles V., emperor, 173. 

Charter of Liberties of Henry 
I., text of, App., 367-370. 

Chatham, Earl of, 284, 286. 

Chippenham, 12, 13, 16, 20, 26, 
27. 

Cholmondeley, Lord, 287, 293- 
294. 

Churchwardens, duties of, etc., 
249-262 passim. 

Cinque Ports, 82, 84, 98, 104; 
App., 405. 

Civil Pleas, 44; typical records 
of, 60-64; App., 385. 

Cobbett's State Trials, 179; ex- 
cerpts from, 235-237. 

Coke, Sir Edward, 175, 176; 
speeches in the House, 217, 
221-222, 223, 233-234 and 
note; committed to the Tower, 
225. 

Colonies, American, see Problem 
VII. 

Common law, 39, 42. 

Commons, House of, see Prob- 
lems III, V, and VIII. 

Commons Journals, 176; ex- 
cerpts from, 186-187, 198, 
207-208, 237. 

Commutation of service, see 
Problem IV. 

Confirmation of the Charters 
(1297), text of, App., 396-398. 

Congress, the Continental, 294, 
295. 3io, 323. 

Conservatives or Tories, 331- 
332, 335, 33&> 339. 352. 

Constables, duties of, etc., 248- 
256, 259, 265, 269, 271-272, 
273- 

Constitutions of Clarendon, 41, 
42, 55; text of, App., 370- 
375. 

Council, 164-165, 168, 175, 187, 
188, 189, 192, 195, 199, 202, 
209, 225, 235; App., 399, 400. 

6 



Index 



County Court, see Shire. 
Cranmer, Thomas, archbishop of 

Canterbury, 173. 
Crewe, Thomas, speech in the 

House, 221. 
Crofts, Sir James, 186. 



D 



Dalton, James, 194, note 2. 

Danegeld, 37. 

Danes, see Problem I. 

D'Ewes, Journals, 177-178; ex- 
cerpts from, 192-200. 

Delbridge, John, speech in the 
House, 214. 

Digges, Sir Dudley, imprison- 
ment and release of, 226, 229, 
230; speech in the House, 232. 

Dispensing and suspending pow- 
er, App., 404, 406. 

Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Bea- 
consfield, 332, note. 

Distraint of knighthood, 81-82; 
writ for, 96-97. 

Domesday survey, 40; title of 
inquest for Ely, 52, 53, 76. 

Duties of Constables, Borsholders, 
etc., 245; excerpts from, 248- 
252. 



E 



Edington, battle of, 13, 19, 27. 
Education Bill of 1906, 339. 
Edward the Confessor, 53; App., 

368, 369. 
Edward the Elder, 9. 
Edward I., 85, 102, 104, 105; 

App., 396, 399- 
Edward III., 115, note, 116, note, 

155,162; App., 399-401. 
Edward VI., 175. 
Edward VII., speech on opening 

Parliament, 354-355 ; death 

of, 358, 362. 
Egbert, 5. 



Elections, interference with, App. 
404, 406. 

Eliot, Sir John, 176; imprison- 
ment of, and vindication by 
the Commons, 226-230; at- 
tack of upon Buckingham, 231, 
232; arrest of and proceedings 
against, 235-238. 

Elizabeth, 116, note, 167, note 1, 
171, 174, 175; freedom of 
speech under, 186-202. 

Elsynge, Henry, clerk of the 
House, 173. 

English Budget Proposals (Selig- 
man), Survey, 340; excerpts 
from, 343-345- 

Ethelred, brother of Alfred, 5, 9. 

Ethelwerd, chronicle of, 9, 10; 
excerpt from, 25-30. 

Ethel wulf, father of Alfred, 15, 
16, 23, 29, 30. 

F 

Finance Bill of 1894, 349. 

Fitzherbert, Lord, 287. 

Fitzwilliam, Lord, 324, 325, 327, 
328. 

Fleetwood, William, [194 and 
note 1. 

Florida, 283. 

Fox, Charles James, 284, 285, 
286, 287, 289, 296, 297, 306, 
312, 314; Memorials and Cor- 
respondence of, 288; excerpts 
from, 317-328. 

France, invaded by Northmen, 
14, 21, 22, 25, 28, 30; in the 
peace negotiations with Ameri- 
ca, 283-328 passim. 

Franchise Bill, see Reform Bill. 

Franklin, Benjamin, 285 - 289 
passim; Journal, quoted, 293- 
314, 314-328 passim. 

Frederick, elector palatine, 210. 

Freedom of speech in Parliament, 
see Problem I; App., 406. 



417 



Source Problems in English History 



Freeholders, 36-38, 75, 76, 78, 
88, 90, 109, no, 127, 128. 

Fuller, Mr., speech in the House, 
205-206. 

G 

General Court (Colonial Legis- 
lature), 265 and note, 267, 268, 
269, 270. 

George III., 283, 284. 

George, David Lloyd, chancellor 
of the exchequer, 339; speech 
at Limehouse, 345-346; at 
the National Liberal Club, 352 ; 
in the Nation, 347-348; speech 
in Parliament, 357-358. 

Giles, Sir Edward, speech in the 
House, 232. 

Gladstone, William Ewart, 332, 
note, 335, 337, 352. 

Glanville, 43, 44, 56, note 1; 
excerpts from Treatise as- 
cribed to, 58-60. 

Gostwick, Sir John, Henry VIII. 's 
message to, 173. 

Grenville, Thomas, 287-319 pas- 
sim; letter to Fox, 319-325; 
letter from Fox, 325-328. 

Grosvenor, Sir Richard, Notes of 
the Parliament of 1628, 180, 
181; excerpts from, 232, 233. 

Guthrum, 10, 13, 19, 20, note 2; 
text of Alfred's Peace with, 
31,32. 

H 

Habeas Corpus, App., 400. 

Hakewill, William, speech in the 
House, 214-215. 

Hansard, 340 ; excerpts from, 349- 
350. 

Haxey, Thomas, case of, 169. 

Heath, Sir Robert, attorney- 
general, 235-236. 

Heneage, Sir Thomas, privy 
councilor, 201-202. 



Henry I., 39, 41, 42, 54, 74, 77, 

80; App., 367, 370. 
Henry II., 39, 41-44, 74-79, 

88-91; App., 370-380. 
Henry III., 39, 45, 81-85, 94~ 

106 passim; App., 396. 
Henry IV., 1 62-1 71 passim, 194 

and note 3. 
Henry V., 194. 
Henry VI., 194, note 4. 
Henry VIII., 171, note, 172, 173; 

Letters and Papers, quoted, 173, 

note, 175, note. 
High Commission, Court of, 

App., 404, 406. 
Hobby, Sir Thomas, speech in 

the House, 228. 
Holinshed's Chronicles, 171, note; 

quoted, 173, notes, 175, note. 
Holland, in the peace negotia- 
tions, with America, 284, 285, 

286, note 1, 298, 304, 305, 

311- . 
Holies, Denzil, arrest of and 

proceedings against, 235- 

238. 
Home Rule Bill, Irish (1893), 

337. 
House of Lords Reconstitution 

Bill, 360-361. 
Hundred court, 37. 



Impositions, the Bate case, 205, 

note, 208, 209; App., 399. 
Income Tax, see Problem VIII. 
Initiation, right of, 163 and note, 

175; of money grants, 165, 

note 2. 
Inquest, Sworn, see Problems II 

and III. 
Itinerant justices, 42-45, 60, 64, 

66, 74,78-81, 94~95, 109; App:, 

376, 377, 379, 385, 389, 396, 

397- 



418 



Index 



James I., 203-225 passim. 

James II., App., 404, 405-410. 

Jay, John, 286 and notes, 313. 

Jefferson, Thomas, 286 and note 
1. 

John, 39, 45, 79, 80, 93, 94; 
App., 380. 

John of Gaunt, Duke of Lan- 
caster, 167, 169. 

Journal Book of the Commons, 
James' erasure of the Com- 
mons' protestation from, 225; 
see also Commons Journals. 

Journal, Franklin's, 288; ex- 
cerpts from, 293-314. 

Journal, Winthrop's, 244-245, 
246; excerpts from, 278-279. 

Judges, 163-164, 168 and note 1, 
170, note 2, 175. 

Jury, see Problem II, 73, no, 
154-157; App., 405, 407. 

Justices of Laborers, 116, 117, 

I52-I57- 
Justices of the Peace, 117, 145, 
151, 152, note 3, 249, 250, 252, 
253, 277; App., 399. 

K 

King's Bench, Court of, App., 
404. 

Knights, 37, 38, 75, 76, 78, 81-84, 
88, 90-101 passim, 103-106, 
no; App., 369, 382, 385, 387, 
390. 

Knollys, Sir Francis, vice-cham- 
berlain, 186. 



Laborers, see Problem IV. 
Labor laws, see Ordinance and 

Statute of Laborers. 
Labor party, 354. 
Lafayette, Marquis de, 301, 322. 



Langland, William, Richard the 
Redeless, 165. 

Lando, Girolamo, Venetian am- 
bassador, letter of, 224. 

Lansdowne MSS., Letters from, 
excerpts from, 315-317. 

Lansdowne, Marquess of, quoted, 
348 and note, 349 and note; 
resolutions of, 358-359; Re- 
constitution Bill introduced 
by, 360-361. 

Laurens, Henry, 286 and note 1. 

Law Reports, the Public General 
Statutes, 191 1, 340; excerpts 
from, 363-366. 

Liberals, 332-366 passim. 

Licensing Bill, 339, 349. 

Littleton, Edward, 229. 

Livingston, Robert, 288. 

London, recaptured from the 
Danes, 16, 25, 30. 

London, Evening Post, quoted, 

3«9- 
London Times, 340; excerpts 

from, 350-357, 360-361. 
Lord lieutenants, App., 399. 
Lords Appellant, 168 and note 3. 
Lords, House of, see Problem 

VIII. 
Lords Journals, 178; excerpts 

from, 237-238. 
Loreburn, Lord, lord chancellor, 

speech in the Lords, 349-350. 
Louisiana, 283. 

M 

Magna Carta, 80, 82, 83, 93-94; 

text of, App., 380-396, 397, 

400, 401. 
Mallory, Sir Edward, committed 

to the Tower, 225. 
Manor, 37; see Problem IV. 
Mare, Peter de la, 166; speaker 

of the Good Parliament, 167 

and note 2, 168. 
Mary I., 174, 203. 



419 



Source Problems in English History 



Mary II., App., 404, 407-412. 

Meriton, Guide for Constables, 
Churchwardens, etc., 245; ex- 
cerpts from, 255-257. 

Merke, Thomas, bishop of Car- 
lisle, 194, note 3. 

Mildmay, Sir Walter, chancellor 
of the exchequer, 193. 

Militia, 37, 77-78. 

Mill, James, quoted, 333. 

Ministers (clergymen), 253, 254, 
2 55> 2 59 and note 2, 278. 

Ministers, royal, 231, 233, 234; 
see also Cabinet. 

Money economy, see Problem 
IV. 

Money grants, initiation of, 165, 
note 2; control of, see Prob- 
lem VIII. 

Morley, John, 336. 

N 

Nationalist party, 354. 

Neile, Richard, bishop of Lin- 
coln, attacks the Commons, 
208-209. 

New England Town-meeting, see 
Problem VI. 

Nicholas, Sir Edward, Proceed- 
ings and Debates, 180; excerpts 
from, 210-224. 

Nichols, John, Illustrations of the 
Manners and Expences of An- 
tient Times in England, 245; 
excerpts from, 261-264. 

Norman Conquest, 35, 36, 38, 39, 
74. 75. 109. no, 113. 

Normandy, 35, 36, 41. 

North, Lord, 283, 285. 

Northmen, see Danes. 

O 

Oath, see Sworn Inquest. 

Old Age Pensions, Bill for, 

339- 

Ordeal, 45. 



Ordinance of Laborers, 115-117; 

text of, 141-146, 147, 153. 
Oswald, Richard, 287-327 passim. 



Palatinate, discussion in the 
Commons over, 210-212, 216. 

Paris, besieged by Northmen, 16, 
25; Treaty of, 283. 

Parish, the English, see Problem 
VI. 

Parliament, the Tudors and, 
174-175; duration of, 357, 366. 

Parliament Act of 191 1, see Prob- 
lem VIII. 

Parliamentary Debates in 1610, 
180; excerpts from, 205-208. 

Parliamentary History, 179; ex- 
cerpts from, 203-205, 227, note. 

Peerages, creation of, 331-337 
passim, 362. 

Perambulation, 263 and note, 273. 

Petition of Right, 231; text of, 
App., 398-403. 

Petition, the Commons to the 
King, 215-217. 

Petition, the right to, 163; App., 
406. 

Petyt's, Jus Parliamentarium, 
179. 

Phelips, Sir Robert, 175; speeches 
in the House, 214, 221, 232, 
234, note; committed to the 
Tower, 225. 

Pleas of the Crown, 45; typical 
records of, 64-69, 94; App., 
386. 

Plural Voting Bill, 339. 

Pole, Michael de la, 163, note 2. 

Population, 115, note. 

Possessory Assizes, 44, 45, 60- 
64; App., 385. 

Privileges of Parliament, first 
asked, 173-174; Elizabeth's 
answer to demands for, 200- 
201 ; Apology of the Commons, 



420 



Index 



quoted, 203-205; petitions to 

the King, 207-208, 215-217; 

the King's answer, 218-220; 

the Protestation, 223-224. 
Privy Council, see Council. 
Provisions of Oxford, 84. 
Pym, John, 232, 234, note. 

R 

Radicals, 332, 333, 334, 338. 

Ramsey Abbey, 113, 114; ex- 
cerpts from Cartulary of, 121- 
127. 

Records of Boston Selectmen, 246; 
excerpts from, 277-278. 

Reform Bill, first, 332; second, 
336; third, 335. 

Remonstrance by the Commons, 
plans for, 231 ; proceeded with, 

2 34- , , „ 

Resolution of 1678, the Commons 

text of, 347, note. 
Rich, Sir Nathaniel, speech in 

the House, 232. 
Richard I., 39, 44, 77; App., 390- 

392. 

Richard II., 116, note, 162-170 
passim, 194, note 3. 

Rockingham, Marquis of, 284, 
285, 287, 306, 317, 318-319. 325- 

Rolls of Parliament, 161, note, 166, 
note, 194, 217. 

Rosebery, Lord, quoted, 334- 
335, 336, 337, 347; resolutions 
of, 355-356. _ 

Rushworth's Historical Collec- 
tions, 180, 181; excerpts from, 
231, 233-234 and notes. 



St. Alban's Chronicle, quoted, 
165 and note 1, 167, note 2. 

St. Augustine, documents re- 
lating to monastery of, 40; 
text of, 51-53. 

St. Stephen, document relating 



to monastery of, 41 ; text of, 

53-55- , , . 

St. Vincent, document relating 
to monastery of, 39, 40; text 

of, 48-51- 
Saladin Tithe, 78; text of, 91-92. 
Salisbury, Marquess of, 335, 337, 

347. 
Sandys, Sir Edwin, case of, 211. 

213 and note. 
Savile, Sir John, speeches in the 

House, 228. 
Selectmen, 265-280 passim. 
Seven Years' War, 283, 284. 
Seymour, Sir Francis, speech in 

the House, 220-221. 
Shelburne, Lord, 284-326 passim; 

Life of William, Earl of 288, 

3I4-3I5- 

Sheppard, William, Offices and 
Duties of Constables, Bors- 
holders, etc., 245; excerpts 
from, 252-255. 

Sheriffs., 74; inquest of, 75-78, 
79, 81, 82; excerpts from in- 
quest of, 88-89, 93- 100 passim, 
103-106, 109, 121, 145, 152, 
note 3, 153; App., 372, 376- 
380, 386, 387, 389, 390, 396. 

Shire court, 37, 80, 81, 96, 97; 

App., 379- , n 

Silva, Guzman de, Spanish am- 
bassador, 177, 187. 

Simon de Montfort, 84, 85, 100. 

Slavery, 109, 113. 

Spain, in the peace negotiations 
with America, 283-286 passim, 
298, 304, 305, 311, 324. 

Spanish Papers, see Calendars of 
State Papers. 

Speaker of the House, 163, 164; 
Savage, 165; Pickering, Cheyne, 
Bussy, 166 and note 2; de la 
Mare, 167, 171, 173; Thorpe, 
194 and note 4, 195, 197, 198, 
199, 200, 201, 212, 217, 226, 230, 
note, 23 1, 233 andinote, 234-235. 



421 



Source Problems in English History 



Star Chamber, Court of, 237. 

Statute of Laborers, 116, 117, 
143, note; text of, 146-152, 
153, 156. 

Stephen, 41, 74. 

Stevens, Richard, imprisoned, 202. 

Strickland, Mr., debate over case 
of 192-195. 

Strode, Richard, case of, 172 and 
notes, 236, 238. 

Strode, Sir William, speech in the 
Commons, 213. 

Suspending power, see Dispens- 
ing. 



Taxation, 37, 78, 81, 162-163; 
App., 397-399, 402, 404, 406. 

Thirty Years' War, 210. 

Thorpe, Thomas, speaker of the 
House, 194, note 4. 

Tonnage and poundage, 234-235. 

Tories, see Conservatives. 

Tories (American), 296. 

Town-meeting, the New Eng- 
land, see Problem VI. 

Townshend's Historical Collec- 
tions, 178; excerpts from, 200- 
202. 

Treason, App., 405. 

V 

Valentine, Benjamin, 235-238. 
Venetian Papers, see Calendars of 

State Papers. 
Vergennes, M. de, 285-321 

passim. 
Vestry, see Problem VI. 
Veto, the Lords', see Problem VIII. 
Villeins, 36-38, 76, 96; see 

Problem IV; App., 375, 385. 

W 

Wager of battle, 45. 
Wages, see Problem IV. 
Wandesford, Christopher, 



speeches in the Commons, 
228, 233. 
Wars of the Roses, 172. 
Wedmore, 13, 20, 27. 
Welch, Mr., imprisoned, 202. 
Wentworth, Paul, 186, 194, note 

2, 202. 
Wentworth, Peter, 175; speech 
in the House, 195-197; ex- 
amination of, 197, 198; be- 
fore the Council, 201 ; com- 
mitted to the Tower, 202. 

Wentworth, Sir Thomas (later 
created Earl of Strafford), 206, 
imprisoned, 209; speech in 
Parliament, 211. 

Weston, Sir Richard, chancellor 
of the exchequer, speech of, 
230. 

Whigs, 284, 285, 331-332; see 
also Liberals. 

Whitelocke, Bulstrode, 205, note ; 
Notes of the Parliament of 1626, 
180; excerpts from, 225-230. 

Whitelocke, Sir James, 205 and 
note. 

Wilde, John, speech in the House, 
226. 

William I., 39-41, 51-53, 74; 
App., 369. 

William II., App., 368-370. 

William III., App., 404, 405, 407- 
412. 

Winthrop, John, 265; Journal, 
excerpts from, 244-245, 246, 
278-279. 

Winwood, Sir Ralph, letter to 
Carleton, 209. 

Wolsey, Thomas, cardinal, 173, 
note 2. 



Yelverton, Sir Christopher, 193- 

194. 
Yonge, Thomas, case of, 171, 172. 
Yorktown, surrender of, 284, 

286. 



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